eOROE  U.WENNER 


The  Lutherans 


oi 


New  York 


Their  Storv^  and  Their  Problems 


BY 
GEORGE  U.  WEXXER,  D.D.,  L.H.D. 

Paitor  of  Chriit  Church 


Xew  York 

THE  PETERSFIELD  PRESS 

S19  E&it  XLaeteenth  Street 

191S 


-z-\Z^(c 


Copyright,  1918 
By  GEORGE  U.  WENNER 


TO 

THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 

IN 

THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 

May  you  bring  forth  fruit  and  may  your  fruit  remain 


Contents 

Page 

Apology I 

Introduction   'VII 


Their  Story 

Page 

In  the  Seventeenth  Century— 1648-1700  ., 1 

In  the  Eighteenth  Century— 1701-1750    5 

In  the  Eighteenth  Century— 1751-1800    11 

In  the  Nineteenth  Century— 1801-1838   25 

In  the  Nineteenth  Century— 1839-1865   31^ 

In  the  Nineteenth  Century— 1866-1900    41 

In  the  Twentieth  Century— 1900-1918   55 


Their  Problems 

Page 

The  Problem  of  Sjmods   73 

The  Problem  of  Language 79 

The  Problem  of  Membership    91 

The  Problem  of  Religious  Education 105 

The  Problem  of  Lapsed  Lutherans 113 

The  Problem,  of  Statistics  121 

Epilogue  129 

Appendix — The  Churches  ;  Deaconesses ;  Former 
Pastors;  Sons  of  the  Churches;  Institutions  and 
Societies;  Other  Associations;  Periodicals;  Book' 
stores;  Bibliography^;  Index, 


Illustrations 

Page 
Frontispiece 

When  New  York  Was  Young 3 

A  Corner  of  Broad  Street  5 

New  Amsterdam  in  1640  5 

In  the  Eighteenth  Century  7 

Trinity  Church  9 

Henry  Melchior  Muehlenberg 11 

The  Old  Swamp  Church   12 

Frederick  Muehlenberg    15 

John  Christopher  Kunzc    16 

Kunze  's   Gravestone    26 

Carl  F.  E.  Stohlmann,  D.D 37 

Pastor  Wilhelm  Heinrich  Berkemeier   39 

The  Wartburg    40 

G.  F.  Krotel,  D.D.,  LL.D 43 

Augustus  Charles  Wedekind,  D.D 64 

Pastor  J.  H.  Sicker 66 

Charles  E.  Weltner,  D.D 68 


APOLOGY 


Apology 


Lutherail§  are  not  foreigners  in  New  York.  Most 
of  us  it  is  true  are  new  comers.  But  with  a  single 
exception,  that  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
Lutherans  were  the  first  to  plant  the  standard  of 
the  cross  on  Manhattan  Island. 

The  story  of  our  church  runs  parallel  with  that 
of  the  city.  Our  problems  are  bound  up  with  those 
of  New  York.  Our  neighbors  ought  to  be  better 
acquainted  with  us.  We  ought  to  be  better  acquaint- 
ed with  them.  We  have  common  tasks,  and  it  would 
be  well  if  we  knew  more  of  each  other's  ways  and 
aims. 

New  York  is  a  cosmopolitan  city.  It  is  the  gate- 
way through  which  the  nations  are  sending  their 
children  into  the  new  world. 

Lutherans  are  a  cosmopolitan  church.  Our  pas- 
tors minister  to  their  flocks  in  fifteen  languages. 
No  church  has  a  greater  obligation  to  ''seek  the 
peace  of  the  city"  than  the  Lutherans  of  New  York. 
No  church  has  a  deeper  interest  in  the  problems  that 
come  to  us  with  the  growth  and  ever  changing  con- 
ditions of  the  metropolis. 

In  their  earlier  history  our  churches  had  a  checker- 
ed career.  In  recent  years  they  have  made  remark- 
able progress.  In  Greater  New  York  we  enroll  this 
year  160  churches.  The  Metropolitan  District  num- 
bers 260  congregations  holding  the  Lutheran  con* 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YORK 


fession.  But  tile  extraordinary  conditions  of  a 
rapidly  expanding  metropolis,  with  its  nomadic 
population,  together  with  our  special  drawback  of 
congregations  divided  among  various  races  and  lan- 
guages as  well  as  conflicting  schools  of  theological 
definition,  make  our  tasks  heavy  and  confront  us 
with  problems  of  grave  difficulty. 

On  the  background  of  a  historical  sketch  a  study 
of  some  of  these  problems  is  attempted  by  the  au- 
thor. After  spending  what  seemed  but  a  span  of 
years  in  the  pastorate  on  the  East  Side,  he  awoke 
one  day  to  find  that  half  a  century  had  been  charged 
to  his  account.  While  it  is  a  distinction,  there  is 
no  special  merit  in  being  the  senior  pastor  of  New 
York.  As  Edward  Judson  once  said  to  him:  ''All 
that  you  have  had  to  do  was  to  outlive  your  con- 
temporaries." 

These  fifty  years  have  been  eventful  ones  in  the 
history  of  our  church  in  New  York.  All  of  this 
period  the  author  "has  seen  and  part  of  it  he  was." 
But  having  also  known,  with  four  exceptions  all 
the  Lutheran  pastors  of  the  preceding  fifty  years, 
he  has  come  into  an  almost  personal  touch  with  the 
events  of  a  century  of  Lutheran  history  on  this 
island.  He  has  breathed  its  spirit  and  sympathized 
with  its  aspirations. 

This  unique  experience  served  as  a  pretext  for 
putting  into  print  some  reflections  that  seemed  fit- 
ting at  a  time  when  our  churches  were  celebrating 
the  quadricentennial  of  the  Reformation  and  were 
inquiring  as  to  the  place  which  they  might  take  in 
the  new  century  upon  which  they  were  entering. 
The  manuscript  was  begun  during  the  celebration, 

II 


APOLOGY 


but  parochial  duties  intervened  and  frequent  inter- 
ruptions delayed  the  completion  of  the  book. 

Lutherans  have  their  place  in  Church  History. 
Our  doctrinal  principles  differ  in  certain  respects 
from  those  of  other  churches.  We  believe  that  these 
principles  are  an  expression  of  historical,  evangelical 
Christianity,  worthy  of  being  promulgated,  not  in  a 
spirit  of  arrogant  denominationalism,  but  in  a  spirit 
of  toleration  and  catholicity.  Yet  few  in  this  city, 
outside  of  our  own  kith  and  kin,  understand  the 
meaning  of  our  system.  We  have  made  but  little 
progress  in  commending  it  to  others  or  in  extending 
our  denominational  lines. 

We  do  not  even  hold  the  ground  that  belongs  to  us. 
The  descendants  of  the  Lutherans  of  the  first  two 
centuries  are  not  enrolled  in  our  church  books.  Al- 
though of  late  years  we  have  increased  a  hundred- 
fold (literally  a  hundredfold  within  the  memory  of 
men  still  living),  we  are  far  from  caring  effectively 
for  our  flocks.  The  number  of  lapsed  Lutherans  is 
larger  than  that  of  the  enrolled  members  of  our 
churches.  In  the  language  of  our  Palatine  fore- 
fathers:   Doh  is  ehhes  letz. 

While  therefore  recent  progress  affords  ground 
for  encouragement,  it  is  not  a  time  for  boastfulness. 
It  is  rather  a  time  for  self-examination,  for  an  in- 
quiry into  our  preparedness  for  new  tasks  and  im- 
pending opportunities. 

We  are  living  in  an  imperial  city.  What  we  plan 
and  what  we  do  here  in  New  York  projects  itself 
far  beyond  the  walls  of  our  city.  Nowhere  are  the 
questions  of  the  community  more  complicated  and 
the  needs  of  the  time  more  urgent  than  here.     We 

iir 


^HE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


should  therefore  ask  ourselves  whether  the  disjoint- 
ed sections  of  our  church,  arrayed  during  the  Quad- 
ricentennial  as  one,  for  the  purposes  of  a  spectacular 
celebration,  but  each  exalting  some  particularism  of 
secondary  value,  adequately  represent  the  religious 
ideas  which  four  centuries  ago  gave  a  new  impulse 
to  the  life  of  the  world.  If  not,  where  does  the 
trouble  lie?  Is  it  a  question  of  doctrine,  of  lan- 
guage, of  organization  or  of  spirit? 

The  emphasis  we  place  upon  doctrine  has  given 
us  a  reputation  for  exclusiveness.  The  author  be- 
lieves that  the  spirit  of  Lutheranism  is  that  of 
catholicity.  He  holds  that,  in  our  relations  with 
the  people  of  this  city  and  with  other  churches,  we 
ought  to  emphasize  the  essential  and  outstanding 
features  of  the  Lutheran  Church  rather  than  the 
minute  distinctions  which  only  the  trained  dogma- 
tician  can  comprehend.  He  is  in  sympathy  with  the 
well  known  plea  of  Rupertus  Meldenius,  an  other- 
wise unknown  Lutheran  theologian  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  (about  1623),  to  observe  ''in  essen- 
tials unity,  in  non-essentials  liberty,  in  all  things 
charity." 


IV 


INTRODUCTION 


Introduction 

For  the  sake  of  non-Lutheran  readers  it  may  be 
well,  in  a  sketch  of  the  story  and  problems  of  our 
churches,  to  present  a  short  statement  of  their  prin- 
ciples and  to  indicate  in  what  respect  these  differ 
from  the  general  attitude  and  beliefs  of  other 
churches.  In  doing  so  however  the  author  does  not 
presume  to  encroach  upon  the  field  belonging  to  the 
scholars  of  the  church.  He  is  not  an  expert  theolo- 
gian. What  he  has  to  say  upon  this  subject  can 
only  be  taken  as  the  opinion  of  a  workaday  pastor 
who,  in  practical  experience,  has  obtained  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  teachings  of  the  church  which 
it  is  his  privilege  to  serve.  For  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  disputed  points  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  books  of  reference  named  in  the  Bibliography. 

Many  otherwise  well-read  people,  while  admitting 
that  Lutherans  are  Protestants,  suspect  that  their 
system  is  still  imbued  with  the  leaven  of  Romanism. 
In  their  classification  of  churches  they  are  disposed 
to  place  us  among  Ritualists,  Sacerdotalists  and 
Crypto-Romanists. 

We  do  not  expect  to  reverse  at  once  the  prefer- 
ence of  most  American  Protestants  in  favor  of  the 
Reformed  system.  But  since  we  have  had  no  incon- 
siderable share  in  the  shaping  of  modern  history, 
we  are  confident  that  our  principles  will  in  due  time 
receive  the  consideration  to  which  any  historical  de- 
vil 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


velopment  is  entitled.  "We  would  Jike  to  be  under- 
stood, or  at  least  not  to  be  misunderstood,  by  our 
fellow  Christians. 

But  our  chief  desire  is  to  inspire  our  own  young 
people  with  an  intelligent  devotion  to  the  faith  of 
their  fathers  and  to  persuade  them  of  its  conformity 
with  historical,  believing  Christianity. 


What  is  Lutheranism?  How  does  it  differ  from 
Catholicism?  How  does  it  differ  from  other  forms 
of  Protestantism? 

The  origin  of  Lutheranism  we  are  accustomed  to 
assign  to  the  sixteenth  century.  We  associate  it  with 
the  nailing  of  the  95  theses  to  the  church  door  at 
Wittenberg,  or  with  Luther's  defence  at  the  Diet  of 
Worms,  or  with  the  Confession  of  the  Evangelicals 
at  Augsburg  in  1530. 

These  events  were  indeed  dramatic  indications  of 
a  great  change,  but  they  were  only  the  culmination 
of  a  process  that  had  been  going  on  for  ages.  It 
was  a  re-formation  of  the  ancient  Catholic  Church 
and  a  return  to  the  original  principles  of  the  Gospel. 

*'The  Church  had  become  an  enormous  labyrinth- 
ine structure  which  included  all  sorts  of  heterogen- 
eous matters,  the  Gospel  and  holy  water,  the  univer- 
sal priesthood  and  the  pope  on  his  throne,  the 
Redeemer  and  Saint  Anna,  and  called  it  religion. 
Over  against  this  vast  accumulation  of  the  ages, 
against  which  many  times  ineffective  protest  had 
been  made,  the  Lutheran  Reformation  insisted  on 
reducing  religion  to  its  simplest  terms,  faith  and  the 
word  of  God."* 


*Harnack,    Wesen    des    Chrlstenthums. 

vni 


INTRODUCTION 


The  traditional  conception  of  the  Church  with  all 
its  apparatus  and  claims  of  authority  it  repudiated, 
and  in  the  few  and  simple  statements  of  the  seventh 
article  of  the  Augustana,  it  set  forth  its  doctrine  of 
the  Church : 

"Also  they  teach,  that  One  holy  Church  is  to  con- 
tinue  forever.  The  Church  is  the  congregation  of 
saints,  in  which  the  Gospel  is  rightly  taught  and  the 
Sacraments  rightly  administered.  And  to  the  true 
unity  of  the  Church,  it  is  enough  to  agree  concern- 
ing the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  and  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Sacraments." 

This  was  the  Lutheran  position  as  against  Rome. 

But  properly  to  understand  our  history  we  must 
also  take  account  of  another  movement  with  which 
our  churches  had  to  contend  at  the  same  time  that 
they  were  making  their  protest  against  Eome.  This 
was  a  more  radical  form  of  Protestantism  which 
found  its  expression  among  what  are  known  as  the 
Reformed  Churches.  It  had  its  home  in  Switzer- 
land, and  made  its  way  along  the  Rhine  to  Germany, 
France  and  Holland.  Through  John  Knox  it  came 
to  Scotland,  and  subsequently  superseded  Lutheran- 
ism  in  Holland  and  in  England.  It  was  from  these 
countries  that  the  earliest  colonists  came  to  Amer- 
ica, and  thus  American  Christianity  early  received 
the  impress  of  the  Reformed  system.  The  few  and 
scattered  Lutheran  churches  which  were  established 
here  in  the  early  history  of  our  country  were  brought 
into  contact  with  a  form  of  Protestantism  at  vari- 
ance with  their  own  theological  principles.  The  his- 
tory of  our  Church  in  America  must  be  studied  with 

IX 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


this  fact  in  mind,  otherwise  many  of  its  developments 
will  not  be  understood. 

It  would  lead  too  far  to  explain  the  historical  and 
philosophical  differences  between  these  two  forms  of 
Protestantism.  A  phrase  first  used  by  Julius  Stahl 
aptly  describes  the  diiference.  The  Lutheran  Refor- 
mation was  the  "Conservative  Reformation."  Its 
general  principle  was  to  maintain  the  historical  con- 
tinuity of  the  Church,  rejecting  only  that  which  was 
contrary  to  the  word  of  God.  The  irenic  character 
of  the  Augsburg  Confession  was  owing  to  this  prin- 
ciple. The  Reformed  Churches,  on  the  other  hand, 
made  a  iabula  rasa  of  history,  and,  ignoring  even  the 
legitimate  contributions  of  the  Christian  centuries, 
professed  to  return  to  apostolical  simplicity,  and  to 
accept  for  their  church-life  only  that  which  was  ex- 
plicitly prescribed  by  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Thus  the  Lutherans  retained  the  churches  as  they 
were,  with  their  altars  and  their  pictures,  the  Litur- 
gy and  other  products  of  art  and  of  history,  pro- 
vided they  were  not  contrary  to  the  word  of  God. 
The  Reformed,  on  the  other  hand,  would  have  none 
of  these  things  because  they  were  not  prescribed  in 
the  Bible.  They  worshipped  in  churches  with  bare 
walls,  and  dispensed  with  organs  and  music,  in  the 
interest  of  a  return  to  Scriptural  simplicity. 

There  were  other  differences,  but  these  indicate 
the  general  character  of  the  two  movements. 


History  thus  placed  our  Church  between  two  fires, 
and  the  training  she  received  explains  in  part  the 
polemical  character  for  which  she  has  been  distin- 
guished.    Sharp  theological  distinctions  had  to  be 

X 


mTRODUCTION 


made.  The  emphasis  which  she  was  compelled  to 
place  upon  distinctive  doctrine  as  a  bond  of  fellow- 
ship accounts  for  the  maintenance  of  standards 
which  were  not  required  in  the  early  history  of  our 
Church  when  the  seventh  article  of  the  Augustana 
was  presented. 

Those  were  famous  battles  which  were  fought  in 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  in  defence 
of  the  Lutheran  position.  Our  Church  had  to  con- 
tend with  two  vigorous  foes  in  the  statement  of  her 
doctrines,  Rome  and  Reform.  The  antinomian  and 
synergistic  controversies,  Osiander,  Major  and  Fla- 
cius,  the  Philippists  and  the  Crvpto-Calvinists  are 
names  that  still  remind  us  of  the  theological  carnage 
of  the  sixteenth  century. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  came  the  reign  of  the 
dogmaticians.  The  eighteenth  century  was  the  age 
of  Pietism  and  this  was  followed  by  Rationalism. 
The  scope  of  this  Introduction  does  not  require  us 
to  explain  the  significance  of  these  movements.  Stu- 
dents of  Church  History  are  familiar  with  them. 

The  revival  of  spiritual  life  at  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century  brought  with  it  also  a  re- 
vival of  church  consciousness  and  a  restoration  of 
the  confession  of  the  church.  Both  in  Europe  and  in 
America  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  secure  the 
unity  of  the  church  on  the  basis  of  subscription  to 
the  various  Symbols  included  in  the  Book  of  Con- 
cord. These  Symbols,  besides  the  Ecumenical  Creeds 
and  the  Augsburg  Confession,  are  Melanchthon's 
Apology,  that  is  Defence  of  the  Augsburg  Confes-^ 
sion,  Luther's  two  Catechisms,  the  Smalcald  Articles 
and  the  Formula  of  Concord.    The  later  Confessions 

XI 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


supplement  and  explain  the  statements  of  the  Augs- 
burg Confession.  As  such  they  are  valuable  expon- 
ents of  Lutheran  teaching.  Many  of  our  churches 
in  Europe  as  well  as  in  America  require  of  their  min- 
isters subscription  to  these  Confessions.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  also  true  that  many  churches,  whose  Luth- 
eranism  cannot  be  impugned,  find  in  the  Augsburg 
Confession  an  adequate  expression  of  their  doctrinal 
position. 

According  to  the  Confessors  of  Augsburg:  ''For 
the  true  unity  of  the  church  it  is  sufficient  to  agree 
concerning  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel." 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  to  be  in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  of  Lutheranism  to  make  ''the  confession  of 
the  churches"  rather  than  "the  Confessions  of  the 
Church"  the  bond  of  union.  Underneath  the  Con- 
fessions there  are  distinctive  principles  dijfferentiat- 
ing  us  from  the  sacerdotal  churches  on  the  one  hand 
and  from  the  Reformed  churches  on  the  other  hand. 

The  soul  of  the  Confessions  is  the  confession,  and 
this  soul  we  may  recognize  amid  all  the  changes  that 
take  place  in  the  course  of  time  and  the  progress 
of  thought.  It  reveals  itself  in  innumerable  forms, 
in  sermons  and  in  sacred  song,  and  above  all  in  the 
sanctified  lives  of  those  who  confess  the  faith. 

In  conversation  with  an  eminent  teacher  in  one  of 
our  most  conservative  schools,  the  author  not  long 
ago  requested  a  definition  of  Lutheranism  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  school  which  the  Professor  repre- 
sented. Of  course,  it  was  suggested,  the  acceptance 
of  the  Symbolical  books  must  be  presumed,  sine  qua 
non. 

The  reply  was :  ' '  The  Symbolical  Books  are  valu- 

xir 


INTRODUCTION 


able,  but  their  obligatory  acceptance  is  not  essential. 
The  same  is  true  even  of  the  Augsburg  Confession. 
Any  one  who  accepts  the  teachings  of  Luther's  Small 
Catechism  is  a  Lutheran.  The  heart  of  the  Lutheran 
faith  may  be  expressed  in  the  following  words: 
''Man  is  a  sinner  who  can  be  saved  by  grace  alone." 
In  view  of  this  statement  it  would  seem  to  be  a 
legitimate  inference  that  even  in  the  straitest  sect 
of  Lutherans  in  America  the  ultimate  doctrine  of 
Lutheranism,  reduced  to  a  single  word,  is  GRACE. 


Churches,  however,  have  their  distinguishing 
marks.  In  the  Lutheran  Church  these  are  more  dif- 
ficult to  find  because  of  her  catholic  origin  and  spirit. 
While  forms  and  ceremonies  are  retained,  they  play 
only  a  minor  part  in  the  expression  of  her  churchli- 
ness.  Bishops  and  presbyters,  robes  and  chasubles, 
liturgies  and  orders,  ''helps,  governments  and  divers 
kinds  of  tongues,"  in  the  providence  of  God  all  of 
these  things  have  been  "set  in  the  church."  Luth- 
erans in  many  lands  make  use  of  them.  An  inexpe- 
rienced observer,  taking  note  only  of  crucifixes  and 
candles  sometimes  fails  to  distinguish  between  Luth- 
erans and  Catholics.  Yet  none  of  these  heirlooms 
of  our  ancient  family  belong  to  the  essential  marks 
of  the  church.  Their  observance  or  non-observance 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  substance  of  Lutheranism. 

Lutheranism  aimed  at  reformation  and  not  at  rev- 
olution. Its  initial  purpose  was  to  bring  back  the 
Church  to  the  common  faith  of  Christendom.  Hence 
the  Lutheran  Confession  is  in  its  large  outlines  that 
of  universal  Christendom.  Nevertheless,  it  received 
a  distinctive  trend  from  the  problems  of  soteriology. 

XIII 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


The  ancient  Church  had  developed  the  doctrines  of 
God  and  of  Christ.  A  beginning,  too,  had  been  made 
in  the  doctrines  of  sin  and  grace  and  the  way  of  sal- 
vation. But  the  development  had  been  hindered  by 
hierarchical  traditionalism  and  by  the  spirit  of  legal- 
ism These  were  the  obstacles  that  stood  in  the  way. 
The  cry  that  went  up  to  God  from  the  hearts  of  the 
people  in  the  days  of  the  Reformation  was  ''What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  This  cry  found  a  voice  in 
the  experience  of  Luther  himself.  This  is  what  drove 
him  into  the  monastery,  and  this  was  the  underlying 
quest  of  his  life  as  a  monk  and  as  a  teacher  in  the 
university,  through  monasticism  to  get  to  heaven.  It 
was  only  when  he  had  found  Christ,  and  realized 
that  his  sins  had  been  taken  away  through  the  aton- 
ing work  of  the  Son  of  God,  that  he  found  peace.  It 
is  His  person  and  work  upon  which  the  doctrine 
of  our  Church  primarily  rests.* 

In  the  words  of  the  Small  Catechism,  Luther  still 
teaches  our  children  this  foundation  doctrine  of  our 
Church : 

*'I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ,  true  God,  begotten  of 
the  Father  from  eternity,  and  also  true  man,  born 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  is  my  Lord,  who  has  redeemed 
me,  a  lost  and  condemned  creature,  secured  and  de- 
livered me  from  all  sins,  from  death  and  from  the 
power  of  the  devil;  not  with  silver  and  gold,  but 


•"Luther,  when  he  said  that  justification  by  faith  was  the 
article  of  a  standing  or  falling  Church,  stated  the  exact 
truth.  He  meant  to  say,  in  the  terms  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, esoecially  of  Paul,  that  God  in  Christ  is  the  sole  and 
sufficient  Saviour.  He  affirmed  what  was  to  him  no  ahstract 
doctrine,  but  the  most  concrete  of  all  realities,  incarnated 
In  the  person  and  passion  of  Jesus  Christ,  drawing  from 
Him  its  eternal  and  universal  significance." — Fairbairn, 
"The  Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology,"  page  159. 

XIV 


INTRODUCTION 


with  His  holy  and  precious  blood,  and  with  His  in- 
nocent sufferings  and  death,  in  order  that  I  might 
be  His,  live  under  Him  in  His  kingdom,  and  serve 
Him  in  everlasting  righteousness,  innocence  and 
blessedness. ' ' 


But  while  we  thus  find  in  the  Son  of  God  and  in 
His  atoning  work  the  foundation  of  the  faith  of  our 
Church,  many  obstacles  had  been  placed  in  the  way 
of  securing  this  redemption.  Legalistic  conditions 
made  it  impossible  for  the  sinner  to  know  that  his 
sins  had  been  taken  away.  It  was  here  that  the 
Lutheran  Reformation  pointed  the  way  to  a  return 
to  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  by  its  Scriptural  defi- 
nition of  justification.  Sola  fide,  by  faith  alone,  was 
the  keynote  of  the  Reformation.  Be  sure  that  you 
bring  back  sola  was  Luther's  admonition  to  his 
friends,  who  went  to  Augsburg  while  he  himself  re- 
mained at  Coburg. 

Thus  justification  by  faith  became  the  material 
principle  of  Protestantism  and  a  second  foundation 
stone  of  Lutheranism.  It  is  true  that  Calvin  and 
the  Reformed  churches  also  accepted  this  principle, 
but  they  did  not  begin  with  it.  Their  system  was 
based  on  the  idea  of  the  absoluteness  of  God.  The 
Lutheran  system  emphasizes  the  love  of  God  to  all 
men;  the  Reformed  system  emphasizes  predestina- 
tion ;  which,  by  selecting  some,  excludes  the  others. 
As  the  theologians  describe  it,  Lutheranism  is 
Christocentric,  Reform  is  theocentric* 


•Calyin.  Hke  Luther,  read  theolog-y  through  Augustine 
and  without  his  ecclesiology,  but  from  an  altogether  oppo- 
site point  of  view.  Luther  started  with  the  anthropology 
and  advanced  from  below  upwards;  Calvin  started  with  the 

XV 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


A  third  principle  relates  to  the  means  of  grace. 
Here  we  have  less  difficulty  in  discerning  the  line  of 
cleavage  which  separates  us  from  Rome  on  the  one 
hand  and  from  the  rest  of  Protestantism  on  the  other 
hand. 

The  Lutheran  Confession  regards  the  word  of  God 
as  the  means  of  grace.  The  Sacraments  also  are 
means  of  grace,  not  ex  opere  operato,,  but  because  of 
the  word.  They  are  the  visible  word,  or  the  individ- 
ualized Gospel.  Hence,  it  is  correct  to  say  that  the 
word,  in  the  Lutheran  system,  is  the  means  of  grace. 
This  is  doubtless  news  to  many  of  our  brethren  of 
other  faiths,  who  think  of  us  only  as  extreme  sacra- 
mentarians,  and  have  looked  upon  us  for  centuries 
as  Crypto-Romanists.  Nothing  could  be  further  from 
the  truth.  It  was  only  by  an  accident  that  the  em- 
phasis of  polemical  discussion  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury was  laid  upon  the  sacramental  question,  where 
it  never  belonged. 

In  her  doctrine  of  the  means  of  grace,  the  Luther- 
an Church  differs  toto  coelo  from  Rome.  It  is  not 
the  Church  which,  through  its  authority  and  its  in- 
stitutions, makes  the  means  of  grace  effective ;  but 
it  is  through  the  means  of  grace  that  the  Church  is 
created  and  made  both  a  product  and  an  instrument 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

On  this  doctrine  our  church  differs  not  only  in 
theory  but  also  in  practice  from  many  of  our  Protes- 
tant brethren.    In  some  of  their  original  confession- 


theolog;y  and  moved  from  above  downwards.  Hence  his 
determinative  idea  was  not  justification  by  faith,  but  God 
and  His  sovereiprnty,  or  the  sole  and  aH-efficiency  of  His 
craclous  Trill. — Ibid.,  page  162. 

XVI 


INTRODUCTION 


al  statements  the  Reformed  churches  declared  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  required  no  means  of  grace,  since 
He  worked  immediately  and  directly.  They  claimed 
that  the  corporeal  could  not  carry  the  spiritual,  and 
that  the  finite  could  not  be  made  the  bearer  of  the 
infinite.  Over  against  these  hyperspiritual  views  our 
Church  believes  that  through  the  word  and  the  sac- 
raments the  Holy  Ghost  effectively  offers  to  the  sin- 
ner the  gifts  of  salvation. 


There  are  other  marks  of  our  Church,  but  these 
are  its  main  characteristics,  and  they  suffice  to  indi- 
cate our  general  position  in  relation  to  Christian 
thought. 

If,  now,  we  should  be  called  upon  to  define  in  a 
single  sentence  the  distinctive  features  of  Lutheran- 
ism,  it  might  be  done  in  these  words  of  an  unknown 
writer : 

*'Lutheranism  is  that  form  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity which  makes  Christ  the  only  foundation,  faith 
the  only  condition,  and  the  word  of  God  the  only 
means  of  salvation.'* 


XVII 


In  the  Seventeenth  Century 

1648—1700 

Under  the  administration  of  the  Dutch  West  In- 
dia Company  the  Reformed  Church  was  established 
in  New  Amsterdam  in  1628.  The  policy  of  the  Com- 
pany was  to  maintain  the  Reformed  religion  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  other  churches.  But  the  cosmopoli- 
tan character  of  the  future  metropolis  was  evident 
even  in  its  earliest  history.  In  1643  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary Jogues  reports  that  besides  the  Calvinists, 
Lutherans  and  Anabaptists  were  to  be  found  in  the 
colony.  In  1644  eighteen  languages  were  spoken  by 
its  inhabitants. 

In  1648  the  Lutheran  community  in  the  New  Neth- 
erlands appealed  to  the  Consistory  of  Amsterdam 
for  a  minister,  but  nothing  was  done  for  them.  In 
1653  the  request  was  renewed.  When  the  Reformed 
ministers  heard  of  it,  they  strenuously  objected  to 
the  admission  of  a  Lutheran  minister ;  they  said  this 
would  open  the  door  for  all  manner  of  sects  and 
would  disturb  the  province  in  the  enjoyment  of  its 
religion.  Their  attitude  was  supported  by  Governor 
Stuyvesant,  who  indeed  went  to  great  lengths  in  the 
enforcement  of  these  views  ?  Even  the  reading  serv- 
ices, which  the  Lutherans  held  among  themselves  in 
anticipation  oi  the  coming  ef  a  minister,  were  for- 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


bidden,  and  fines  and  imprisonment  were  inflicted 
upon  those  who  disobeyed. 

Candor  compels  us  to  admit  that  this  was  the  spirit 
of  the  age.  The  Thirty  Years'  War  was  going  on 
at  this  time,  and  in  a  time  of  war  ruthless  methods 
are  the  vogue. 

In  1657,  to  the  joy  of  the  Lutherans  and  the  con- 
sternation of  the  Reformed,  Joannes  Ernestus  Gut- 
wasser  (or  Goetwater,  as  his  name  is  often  printed) 
arrived  from  Amsterdam  to  minister  to  the  waiting 
congregation.  But  Governor  Stuyvesant  had  no  use 
for  a  Lutheran  minister  and  Gutwasser  was  ordered 
to  return  forthwith  to  the  place  from  which  he  had 
come.  However,  he  succeeded  in  delaying  his  de- 
parture for  nearly  two  years. 

The  congregation,  unmindful  of  Stuyvesant 's  ful- 
minations  against  all  who  taught  contrary  to  the 
Acts  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  secured  as  their  minister 
in  1662  a  student  by  the  name  of  Abelius  Zetskoorn, 
whom  the  authorities  soon  transported  to  a  charge 
on  the  Delaware,  without  the  violence,  however, 
shown  in  the  case  of  Gutwasser. 

In  1664  the  island  was  captured  by  the  English 
and  the  Lutherans  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  charter 
with  permission  to  call  a  minister  and  conduct  serv- 
ices in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  the  Augs- 
burg Confession.  But  prior  to  1664  or  even  1648 
there  were  individual  Lutherans  here,  **  their  charter 
of  salvation  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  birth.''  In  spite 
of  persecution,  even  to  imprisonment,  they  sang 
"The  Lord's  song  in  a  strange  land,"  and  in  sim- 
plicity of  faith  sowed  the  seed  from  which  future 
harvests  were  to  spring. 


2 


IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

The  little  trading  station  at  the  mouth  of  the 
North  River  now  numbered  about  1,500  people.  The 
church  of  "The  Augustane  Confession"  was  still 
without  a  pastor.  For  a  generation  they  had  striven 
under  great  difficulties  to  maintain  their  Lutheran 
faith.  They  were  plain,  simple  people,  but  they  had 
refused  to  be  cajoled  or  driven  to  a  denial  of  their 
convictions.  Over  against  Stuyvesant,  the  most  dom- 
inant personality  of  the  new  world,  they  waited 
patiently  for  the  time  when  they  might  have  their 
own  pastor  and  might  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  consciences. 

At  last,  in  1669,  they  obtained  a  minister  in  the 
person  of  Magister  Jacobus  Fabritius  who  served  the 
congregation  in  New  York  and  also  one  in  Albany. 
The  new  pastor  sorely  tried  the  patience  of  a  long- 
suffering  people.  In  church  he  manifested  a  dicta- 
torial and  irascible  temper.  At  home  he  was  con- 
stantly quarreling  with  his  wife.  These  eccentrici- 
ties interfered  somewhat  with  his  usefulness  as  a 
pastor.  With  increasing  difficulty  he  administered 
his  office  until  1671  when  he  accepted  a  call  to  con- 
gregations on  the  Delaware.  Here  he  seems  to  have 
repented  of  his  ways,  for  he  left  an  honorable  record 
as  a  devoted  pastor,  and  the  historian  is  glad  to  for- 
get the  infelicities  of  his  career  on  the  North  River. 

His  successor  was  Bernhardus  Arensius,  who  came 
with  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  the  Consistory 
of  Amsterdam.  He  is  described  as  '*a  gentle  per- 
sonage and  of  a  very  agreeable  behavior.*- 

Those  were  troublous  times  in  which  he  conducted 
his  ministry.  The  war  between  the  Dutch  and  the 
English  caused  a  repeated  change  of  government, 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


but  for  twenty  years  he  quietly  and  successfully  car- 
ried on  his  pastoral  work  in  New  York  and  in  Al- 
bany. He  died  in  1691  and  the  Lutheran  flock  was 
again  without  a  shepherd.  For  the  rest  of  the  cen- 
tury appeals  to  Amsterdam  for  a  pastor  were  all  in 
vain. 


A  CORNER  OF  BROAD  STREET 


NEW  AMSTERDAM  FN  T640 


In  the  Eighteenth  Century 

1701—1750 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
population  of  Manhattan  Island  had  increased  to 
5,000  souls,  chiefly  Dutch  and  English.  These  figures 
include  about  800  negro  slaves.  The  slave  trade  and 
piracy  were  at  this  time  perfectly  legitimate  lines  of 
business. 

For  ten  years  the  Lutherans  had  been  without  a 
minister.  In  1701  they  invited  Andrew  Rudmann  to 
become  their  pastor.  He  had  been  sent  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Upsala  as  a  missionary  to  the  Swedish 
settlements  on  the  Delaware.  Rudmann  accepted 
the  call,  but  after  a  severe  illness,  as  the  climate  did 
not  agree  with  him,  he  returned  to  Pennsylvania, 
where  in  1703  he  ordained  Justus  Falckner  to  be 
his  successor  in  New  York. 

Falckner  was  a  graduate  of  Halle.  It  was  a  kind 
Providence  that  made  him  pastor  of  the  Lutherans 
in  New  York  at  this  time.  Events  had  happened  and 
were  still  happening  in  Europe  that  were  destined 
to  make  history  in  America. 

Germany,  paralyzed  by  the  results  of  the  Thirty 
Years*  War,  and  hopelessly  divided  into  a  multitude 
of  political  fragments,  had  become  the  helpless  prey 
of  the  spoiler.  The  valley  of  the  Rhine  was  ravaged 
from  Heidelberg  to  the  Black  Forest.  To  this  day, 
after  more  than  two  centuries,  the  ruins  may  still  b« 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


traced.  Upon  the  accession  of  the  Catholic  House 
of  Neuburg  to  the  throne  of  the  Palatinate  the  Prot- 
estants were  subjected  to  intolerable  persecution. 
Their  churches  and  schools  were  taken  from  them. 
Frequent  raids  were  made  upon  the  helpless  border 
lands  by  the  armies  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth.  In  a 
time  of  peace  the  Lutheran  house  of  worship  in 
Strassburg  was  wrested  from  its  owners  and  trans- 
formed into  a  Catholic  cathedral. 

This  devastation  of  the  Rhine  Valley  caused  an 
extensive  emigration  by  way  of  London  to  New 
York.  In  the  winter  of  1708  Pastor  Kocherthal  ar- 
rived with  the  first  company  of  Palatine  exiles.  In 
succeeding  years  many  others  followed,  most  of 
them  settling  on  the  upper  Hudson  and  in  the  Mo- 
hawk Valley,  but  some  of  them  remaining  in  New 
York. 

The  inhuman  treatment  which  they  received  dur- 
ing the  voyage,  followed  by  hunger  and  disease,  dec- 
imated their  ranks.  Of  the  3,086  persons  who  set 
sail  from  London  only  2,227  reached  New  York.  Here 
they  were  not  permitted  to  land,  but  were  detained 
in  tents  on  Governor's  Island,  where  250  more  died 
soon  after  their  arrival. 

One  of  the  men  thus  detained  was  destined  to  take 
a  prominent  place  in  the  subsequent  history  of  his 
countrymen,  Johann  Conrad  Weiser.  His  descend- 
ants down  to  our  own  day  have  been  filling  high 
places  in  the  history  of  their  country  as  ministers, 
teachers,  soldiers  and  statesmen.  His  great-grandson 
was  the  Speaker  of  the  first  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States.  Another  great-grandson. 
General  Peter  Muhlenberg,  was  for  a  time  an  assist- 


IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


ant  minister  in  Zion  Church  at  New  Germantown, 
N.  J.  He  accepted  a  call  to  Woodstock,  Virginia, 
where  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  he  startled 
his  congregation  one  Sunday  by  declaring  that  the 
time  to  preach  was  past  and  the  time  to  fight  had 
come.  Throwing  off  his  ministerial  robe  and  stand- 
ing before  them  in  the  uniform  of  an  American  offi- 
cer, he  appealed  to  them  to  follow  him  in  the  defence 
of  the  liberties  of  his  country.  He  became  a  distin- 
guished officer  in  the  army  and  subsequently  ren- 
dered good  service  in  the  civil  administration  of  the 
new  republic. 

A  later  descendant  was  Dr.  William  A.  Muhlen- 
berg, bom  in  Philadelphia,  September  16th,  1796,  the 
venerated  founder  of  St.  Luke's  Hospital  in  this 
city.* 

Among  the  Palatine  immigrants  stranded  on  Gov- 
ernor's Island,  unable  to  follow  their  sturdier  com- 
panions to  the  tipper  part  of  the  Hudson  Valley, 
were  widows,  elderly  men  and  80  orphans.  One  of 
these  orphans  was  Peter  Zenger,  who  was  appren- 
ticed to  William  Bradford,  at  that  time  the  only 
printer  in  the  colony.  When  he  grew  up,  he  became 
the  editor  of  The  Weekly  Journal,  which  made  its 
first  appearance  on  November  5th,  1733.  Washing- 
ton at  this  time  was  not  yet  two  years  old.  Zenger 
was  one  of  the  earliest  champions  of  American  lib- 
erty.    His  arrest  and  imprisonment,  his  heroic  de- 

•Dr.  Muhlenberg  was  the  rector  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  of  the  Holy  Communion.  He  was  one  of  the 
best  beloved  ministers  in  New  York.  He  died  in  1877.  I 
visited  him  during  his  last  illness  in  St.  Luke's  Hospital. 
As  I  took  my  leave  he  threw  his  arms  about  me  and  as- 
sured me  that  he  had  always  been  a  Lutheran.  He  evident- 
ly conceived  of  Lutheranism  in  broader  terms  than  merely 
denominational  distiictlons. 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


fence  and  final  acquittal,  are  among  the  milestones 
of  American  history  and  are  a  contribution  to  the 
story  of  New  York  of  which  Americans  of  German 
descent  may  well  be  proud. 

It  was  a  large  parish  to  which  Falckner  minis- 
tered. There  were  no  Home  Mission  Boards  in  those 
days.  The  New  York  pastor  had  therefore  to  care 
for  many  outlying  stations.  His  diocese  included 
Hackensack,  Raritan,  Ramapo  and  Constable  Hook 
in  the  south,  and  Albany,  Loonenburg  and  West 
Camp  in  the  north.  After  the  death  of  Kocherthal 
he  visited  regularly,  not  only  the  Dutch  congrega- 
tions of  Claverack,  Coxackie  and  Kinderhook,  but 
also  such  German  settlements  as  East  Camp,  Rhine- 
beck,  and  Schoharie. 

New  York  itself  was  not  neglected  during  these 
missionary  journeys.  Readers  (Vorleezers)  conduct- 
ed the  service  while  he  was  away.  Such  notices  as 
**  There  will  be  no  church  today,  the  minister  is  out 
of  town,**  did  not  appear  on  his  bulletin  board. 

The  care  of  a  parish  150  miles  in  length  left  but 
little  time  for  literary  work,  but  in  order  that  his 
people  might  be  informed  on  the  subject  of  their 
church's  faith  as  distinguished  from  that  of  their 
Calvinistic  neighbors,  he  wrote  a  book  on  the  essen- 
tial doctrines  of  the  Lutheran  confession.  It  was 
published  by  William  Bradford,  New  York,  1708. 

He  also  wrote  a  hymn:  "Auf,  ihr  Christen,  Christi 
Glieder/*  which  after  two  centuries  holds  a  place  in 
German  hymnals,  and  the  translation  is  to  be  found 
in  some  of  the  best  collections  of  the  English  lan- 
guage.   To  this  day,  therefore,  the  churches  of  Lou- 


TRINITY  CHURCH 


Broadway  and  Rector  Street 
(Southwest  Corner) 


IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


don  and  Berlin  alike  respond  to  Falckner's  rallying 
call:  **Rise,  ye  children  of  salvation." 

He  must  have  been  a  pious  man  and  a  winning 
personality.  The  entries  in  the  book  recording  bap- 
tisms and  other  ministerial  acts  abound  in  accom- 
panying prayers  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  those 
to  whom  he  had  ministered. 

For  twenty  years  he  served  the  churches  of  New 
York  and  the  Hudson  Valley.  When  and  where  he 
died  we  know  not.  Early  in  1723  he  was  in  New 
York  and  in  Hackensack.  In  September  of  the  same 
year  there  is  a  record  of  a  baptism  at  Phillipsburg 
(near  Yonkers).  And  then  no  more.  "He  was  not, 
for  God  took  him." 

Falckner's  successor,  Berkenmeyer,  a  native  of 
Lueneburg,  arrived  in  1725.  He  brought  with  him 
books  for  a  church  library  and  also  funds  for  a  new 
building,  contributed  by  friends  in  Germany,  Den- 
mark, and  London.  The  *'old  cattle  shed"  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Broadway  and  Rector  Street 
was  torn  down  and  a  stone  building  erected  which 
was  dedicated  in  1729  and  named  Trinity  church. 

The  parish  which  Berkenmeyer  inherited  from 
Falckner,  extending  from  New  York  to  Albany,  and 
including  many  Dutch  and  German  settlements  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,  proved  to  be  a  larger  field 
than  he  could  cultivate.  He  therefore  sent  to  Ger- 
many for  another  minister,  and  resigning  at  New 
York,  took  charge  of  the  northern  and  more  promis- 
ing part  of  the  field,  making  his  home  at  Loonenburg 
(Athens),  on  the  Hudson.  For  nineteen  years  he  la- 
bored in  this  field.    He  died  in  1751. 

Berkenmeyer  was  a  scholarly  man,  a  faithful  min- 


9 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


ister,  and  an  impressive  personality.  He  belonged 
to  a  different  school  from  that  of  his  great  contem- 
porary, Mtihlenberg,  and  the  rest  of  the  Halle  mis- 
sionaries, and  his  correspondence  with  tnem  fre- 
quently savored  of  theological  controversy. 

His  successor  in  New  York  was  Knoll,  a  native  of 
Holstein,  who  spent  eighteen  years  of  faithful  work 
in  Trinity  church  under  trying  circumstances.  He 
had  to  preach  in  Dutch  to  a  congregation  that  had 
become  prevailingly  German.  There  was  a  growing 
dissatisfaction  among  the  people.  During  the  first 
half  of  the  century  Dutch  influence  gradually  de- 
clined and  German  grew  stronger.  The  ministers 
were  all  of  them  German,  although  they  preached 
chiefly  in  Dutch,  with  occasional  ministrations  in 
German.  At  last  the  Germans,  feeling  the  need  of 
ampler  service  in  their  own  language,  took  advan- 
tage in  1750  of  the  presence  of  a  peripatetic  preach- 
er and  instituted  the  first  ''split"  in  the  Lutheran 
church  of  this  city  by  organizing  Christ  Church. 
Knoll  resigned  soon  after  and  removed  to  Loonen- 
burg,  where  he  again  became  the  successor  of  Ber- 
kenmeyer. 


IQ 


HENRY  MELCHIOR  MUEHLENBERG 

(Otto  Schweizer's  Heroic  Stone  Figure) 


In  the  Eighteenth  Century 
1751—1800 

The  resignation  of  Knoll  and  the  difficulties  of  the 
mother  congregation  were  the  occasion  of  calling  to 
New  York  the  most  distinguished  minister  the  Amer- 
ican Church  has  ever  had. 

Henry  Melchior  Miihlenberg  came  to  America 
from  Halle  in  1742  to  minister  to  the  congregations 
in  and  near  Philadelphia.  The  disordered  condition 
of  the  American  churches  opened  a  wide  field  for 
his  administrative  ability,  and  for  the  rest  of  his  life, 
in  addition  to  his  pastoral  activity,  he  accomplished 
a  great  task  in  the  planting  and  organization  of 
churches.  He  is  rightly  called  the  Patriarch  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  America. 

In  response  to  an  urgent  appeal.  Miihlenberg 
came  over  from  Pennsylvania  in  1751  and  assumed 
the  pastorate  of  Trinity  church.  Although  he  spent 
but  a  short  time  in  1751  and  again  in  1752  on  the 
ground,  he  was  for  two  years  pastor  of  the  mother 
church.  His  was  a  fruitful  ministry.  He  succeeded 
to  a  considerable  extent  in  reconciling  the  warring 
elements  in  the  congregation,  not  only  by  his  gifts 
as  a  preacher  and  spiritual  leader,  but  also  by  his 
ability  to  preach  in  Dutch  and  in  English  as  well  as 
in  German. 

The  Episcopalians,  who  worshipped  in  the  Trinity 
Church  on  the  opposite  corner,  complained  of  the 

n 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Btentorian  tones  in  which  he  delivered  his  sermons. 

Upon  Miihlenberg's  recommendation,  Mr.  Wey- 
gand  of  Raritan,  was  chosen  pastor  of  Trinity 
Church  in  1753.  In  the  furtherance  of  his  ministry, 
Weygand  performed  some  literary  work.  He  pre- 
pared an  English  translation  of  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession, which  was  printed  as  a  supplement  to  a 
quarto  volume  of  414  pages  published  by  one  of  the 
elders  of  his  church,  entitled  ' '  The  Articles  of  Faith 
of  the  Holy  Evangelical  Church  According  to  the 
Word  of  God  and  the  Augsburg  Confession.  A  Trans- 
lation from  the  Danish.   New  York,  MDCCLIV.*' 

The  congregation  continued  to  be  Dutch,  although 
Weygand  preached  also  in  German  and  in  English 
as  occasion  required.  For  the  use  of  his  English 
congregations  he  published  in  1756  a  translation  of 
German  hymns  that  had  appeared  in  England  under 
the  title,  "Psalmodia  Germanica." 

From  1750  to  the  time  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion we  had  two  Lutheran  churches  in  New  York, 
the  German  Christ  church,  popularly  known  as  ' '  The 
Old  Swamp  Church,"  on  Frankfort  Street,  and  the 
Dutch  Trinity  church  on  Broadway  and  Rector 
Street. 

In  the  Swamp  church  the  first  preacher,  Ries,  re- 
mained for  a  year.  He  was  followed  in  quick  suc- 
cession by  Rapp,  Wiessner,  Schaeffer,  Kurz,  Bager 
and  Gerock.  Only  the  last  named  served  long  enough 
to  identify  himself  with  local  history.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  Frederick  Miihlenberg,  a  son  of  Henry 
Melchior,  an  ardent  patriot,  who  had  expressed  him- 
self so  freely  in  regard  to  English  rule  that  when 
the  British  army  marched  into  New  York  in  1776 


19 


IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


he  found  it  expedient  to  retire  as  quickly  as  possible 
to  Pennsylvania.  Here  he  labored  in  several  congre- 
gations, as  supply  or  as  pastor,  until  1779,  when  the 
exigencies  of  the  times  compelled  him  to  take  an 
active  part  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  country. 

The  partial  reconciliation  that  had  been  brought 
about  by  Miihlenberg  between  the  Dutch  and  the 
German  congregations  was  occasionally  disturbed  by 
a  pamphletary  w^arfare  conducted  by  their  respec- 
tive pastors,  Weygand  and  Gerock. 

Weygand  died  in  1770.  He  was  succeeded  by  Hau- 
sihl  (or  Houseal,  as  he  spelled  his  name  in  later 
years),  a  native  of  Heilbronn,  who  had  served  con- 
gregations in  Maryland  and  in  eastern  Pennsylvania. 
Tradition  reports  that  he  was  a  brilliant  preacher  of 
distinguished  appearance  and  of  courtly  manners. 
He  succeeded  in  maintaining  a  large  congregation. 

But  a  serious  change  was  going  on  in  the  church 
in  the  matter  of  language.  In  spite  of  the  secession 
in  1750  other  Germans  kept  coming  into  the  Broad- 
way church  to  such  an  extent  that  they  outnumbered 
the  Dutch  eight  to  one,  and  finally  the  use  of  the 
Dutch  language  in  the  Lutheran  Church  of  New 
York  came  to  an  end.  Houseal  had  the  distinction 
of  conducting  the  obsequies  at  the  preparatory  serv- 
ice on  Saturday,  November  30,  1771,  and  at  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Lord's  Supper  on  the  following 
day. 

But  the  death  of  the  Dutch  language  by  no  means 
put  an  end  to  the  language  difficulties  of  our  Luth- 
eran ancestors.  In  the  midst  of  the  original  con- 
testants a  new  set  of  combatants  had  sprung  up  in 
the  persons  of  the  children  of  both  parties.    These 

13 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


8poke  neither  Dutch  nor  German.  They  understood 
English  only  and  demanded  larger  consideration  of 
their  needs. 

Events,  however,  were  impending  which  soon  gave 
the  people  something  else  to  think  about  and  caused 
a  postponement  of  actual  hostilities  for  another  gen- 
eration. 

The  church  on  Broadway  was  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1776,  and  was  never  rebuilt.  The  congregation  wor- 
shipped for  a  time  in  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church 
on  Cedar  Street. 

The  American  Revolution  broke  out.  On  political 
questions  our  ancestors  differed  almost  as  widely  as 
do  their  successors  on  sjniodical  questions.  Some  of 
them  were  for  George  the  Third,  others  were  for 
George  Washington.  In  this  respect,  however,  they 
were  not  unlike  other  inhabitants  of  New  York. 

Frederick  Miihlenberg,  the  pastor  of  the  Swamp 
Church,  was  an  ardent  patriot.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  as  we  have  seen,  he  fled  to  Pennsylvania. 

During  the  war  the  services  were  conducted  by 
the  chaplains  of  the  Hessian  troops.  The  Hessians 
were  good  church-goers  and  also  generous  contribu- 
tors, so  that  the  financial  condition  of  the  congre- 
gation at  this  time  was  greatly  improved. 

Houseal,  the  pastor  of  Trinity  Church,  was  a  tory, 
and  when  in  1783  the  American  troops  marched  into 
New  York,  he  with  a  goodly  number  of  his  adher- 
ents removed  to  Nova  Scotia  and  founded  a  Luther- 
an church  in  Halifax. 

Both  churches  were  now  without  pastors.  Tribu- 
lation must  have  softened  the  spirits  of  the  two  con- 
tending congregations,  for  when  Dr.  Johann  Chris- 


H 


fREDERICK  AUGUSTUS  CONRAD  MUEHLENBERG 
Pastor  of  the  Old  Swamp  Church  ;  subsequently  member  of  the 
Continental  Congress  ;  Speaker  of  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  ; 
President  of  the  Convention  wnich  in  1787  ratiGed  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  ;  Speaker  of  the  first  Congress  of  the  Unile;! 
States  of  America. 


IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


toph  Kunze  came  to  this  city  from  Philadelphia  in 
1784,  he  became  pastor  of  the  reunited  congrega- 
tions, worshipping  in  the  Swamp  Church. 


Before  closing  this  chapter  and  taking  up  the  ac- 
count of  Kunze  *s  pastorate,  let  us  follow  the  steps 
of  Frederick  Miihlenberg,  the  former  pastor  of  the 
Swamp  Church.  We  recall  his  unceremonious  flight 
from  New  York.  We  cannot  blame  him.  The  Brit- 
ish had  threatened  to  hang  him  if  they  caught  him. 

We  remember  too  that  in  Pennsylvania  he  was 
called  upon  to  take  an  active  part  in  political  af- 
fairs. He  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, also  a  member  of  the  legislature  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Speaker  of  the  Assembly.  He  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  Convention  which  ratified  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

Thirteen  years  have  passed  since  he  left  New 
York.  It  is  A.  D.  1789.  New  York  was  just  begin- 
ning to  recover  from  the  disastrous  years  of  the  Rev- 
olution during  which  the  British  troops  occupied  the 
city.  The  population  had  sunk  from  20,000  to  10,000 
in  1783,  but  by  this  time  had  risen  again  to  30,000. 
The  people  were  getting  ready  to  celebrate  the  great- 
est event  in  the  history  of  the  city,  the  inauguration 
of  the  first  Pl'esident  of  the  American  Republic. 
Preparations  were  made  to  honor  the  occasion  with 
all  possible  ceremony.  Great  men  had  gathered 
from  all  parts  of  the  country.  But  to  the  older 
members  of  the  Swamp  Church  there  was  doubt- 
less no  one,  not  even  Washington  himself,  who 
stood  higher  in  their  esteem  and  affection  than 
the  representative  from  Pennsylvania,  the  Reverend 

15 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Frederick  Miihlenberg.  And  when  a  few  days  later 
the  erstwhile  German  pastor  of  the  Swamp  Church 
was  elected  Speaker  of  the  first  House  of  Represent- 
atives of  the  United  States  of  America,  none  knew 
better  than  they  that  it  was  only  a  fitting  tribute  to 
the  character  and  abilities  of  their  former  pastor. 


Kunze's  is  one  of  the  great  names  on  the  roll  of 
our  ministers.  He  was  a  scholar,  a  teacher,  a  writer, 
and  an  administrator  of  distinction.  Trained  in  the 
best  schools  of  Germany,  when  he  arrived  in  Amer- 
ica in  1770,  he  at  once  took  high  rank  among  his  col- 
leagues in  Philadelphia.  Besides  his  work  as  a  min- 
ister he  filled  the  chair  of  Oriental  and  German 
languages  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

In  1784  he  accepted  a  call  to  New  York.  He  did 
this  partly  in  the  hope  of  establishing  a  Lutheran 
professorship  in  Columbia  College.  He  accepted  a 
call  to  the  chair  of  Oriental  languages  in  Columbia. 
He  was  also  a  regent  of  the  university. 

Kunze  was  not  only  an  able  man,  he  was  also  a 
man  of  deep  piety,  a  qualification  not  altogether  un- 
desirable in  a  shepherd  of  souls.  His  writings  indi- 
cate that  in  his  preaching  and  catechization  he  strove 
not  to  beat  the  air  but  to  win  souls  to  a  personal  ex- 
perience of  salvation. 

While  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  would  find  admis- 
sion to  some  of  the  most  orthodox  synods  of  our  own 
day.  he  was  comparatively  free  from  the  latitudina- 
rian  tendencies  which  had  been  brought  over  from 
Germany  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  century. 

Along  with  General  Steuben  and  other  influential 
citizens  he  founded  the  German  Society,  an  associa- 

16 


JOHN   CHRISTOPHKR   kUNZE 


IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


tion  which  is  still  an  important  agency  in  the  chari- 
table work  of  this  city. 

He  was  instrumental  in  1785  in  reorganizing  the 
New  York  Ministerium.  This  work  was  begun  in 
1775  by  Frederick  Miihlenberg,  but  had  been  given 
up  for  a  while,  probably  on  account  of  the  war. 

As  a  writer  he  is  credited  in  Dr.  Morris*  Biblio- 
theca  Lutherana  with  eight  books  of  which  he  was 
the  author  or  editor,  from  Hymns  and  Poems  to  A 
History  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  A  New  Method 
of  Calculating  the  Great  Eclipse  of  1806. 

These  and  many  other  things  must  be  set  to  his 
credit.  For  what  he  accomplished  he  deserves  a 
large  place  in  the  history  of  our  Church  in  this  city. 
But  with  all  his  gifts  he  was  unable  to  cope  with  the 
chief  problem  which  confronted  our  Church  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  that  of  the  English 
language. 

There  had  been  a  demand  for  English  services  ever 
since  the  middle  of  the  century.  The  descendants 
of  the  Dutch  families  had  all  become  English.  The 
need  of  English  had  been  met  in  part  by  the  elder 
Miihlenberg  and  his  successors,  Weygand  and  Hau- 
seal,  in  Trinity  Church,  doubtless  also  by  Frederick 
Miihlenberg  in  the  Swamp  Church. 

After  the  Revolution  (1784)  the  United  Congre- 
gations certainly  made  some  provision  for  English 
although  it  was  inadequate.  In  1794  the  younger  peo- 
ple petitioned  for  occasional  services  in  a  language 
which  they  could  understand.  Dr.  Kunze  himself 
made  some  attempts  to  handle  the  English,  but  his 
faulty  pronunciation  so  amused  the  young  people 
that  he  gave  it  up.    He  appointed  a  young  man  by 

17 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YORK 


the  name  of  Strebeck  to  assist  him  in  ministering 
to  the  English  members  of  the  congregation.  Stre* 
beck  at  this  time  was  a  Methodist,  although  he  had 
been  confirmed  in  a  Lutheran  Church  in  Baltimore. 
Under  Kunze^s  influence  he  again  joined  the  Luth- 
erans. 

*'A  Hymn  and  Prayer  Book  for  the  use  of  such 
Lutheran  Churches  as  use  the  English  language," 
published  by  Kunze  in  1795,  and  another  by  Stre- 
back  in  1797,  show  that  serious  efforts  were  made  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  English-speaking  members. 

Finally,  on  June  25th,  1797,  a  separate  congrega- 
tion was  organized  entitled  The  English  Lutheran 
Church  in  the  City  of  New  York.  (This  was  the  cor- 
porate name,  although  it  was  subsequently  known 
as  Zion  Church.)  Strebeck  was  chosen  pastor.  Land 
was  rented  on  Pearl  Street  opposite  City  Hall  Place 
and  a  frame  church  was  built. 

The  incorporation  of  the  church  was  reported  to 
the  Ministerium  which  met  at  Rhinebeck.  The  fol- 
lowing reply  was  given  under  date  of  September  1st, 
1797: 

"Upon  reading  a  letter  from  New  York  signed  by 
Henry  Heiser,  Lucas  Van  Buskirk  and  L.  Hartman,  rep- 
resenting that  they  have  erected  an  English  Lutheran 
Church,  on  account  of  the  inability  of  their  children  to 
understand  the  German  language: 

RESOLVED,  That  it  is  never  the  practice  In  an  Evan- 
gelical Consistory  to  sanction  any  kind  of  schism;  that 
if  the  persons  who  signed  the  letter  wish  to  continue 
their  children  in  the  Lutheran  Church  connection  in 
New  York,  they  earnestly  recommend  them  the  use  of 
the  German  School,  and  in  case  there  is  no  probability 
of  any  success  in  this  particular,  they  herewith  declare 
that  they  do  not  look  upon  persons  who  are  not  yet  com- 
municants of  a  Lutheran  Church  as  apostates  in  case 
they  Join  an  English  Episcopal  Church. 


18 


IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


RESOLVED,  2d,  That  on  account  of  an  intimate  con- 
nection subsisting  between  the  English  Episcopal  Church 
and  the  Lutheran  Church  and  the  identity  of  their  doc- 
trine and  near  alliance  of  their  Church  discipline,  this 
Consistory  will  never  acknowledge  a  new  erected  Luth- 
eran Church  merely  English,  in  places  where  the  mem- 
bers may  partake  of  the  Services  of  the  said  Episcopal 
Church." 

From  the  viewpoint  of  the  ministers  in  lt97,  Luth- 
eranism  seems  to  have  been  a  matter  of  language 
rather  than  of  religion.  It  was  something  to  be  re- 
tained among  German-speaking  people,  but  could 
not  be  effectively  transmitted  except  through  the 
medium  of  the  German  language. 


We  have  come  to  the  last  decade  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury. In  the  political  world  great  men  were  finding 
themselves  and  mighty  principles  were  finding  ex- 
pression in  the  organization  of  what  was  destined  to 
become  one  of  the  great  states  of  the  world.  Some 
of  our  own  men  were  taking  a  large  part  in  the 
making  of  American  history.  In  the  church  they 
were  content  with  a  more  restricted  outlook.  Our 
people,  it  is  true,  were  of  humble  origin,  yet  some 
of  them  had  attained  wealth  and  social  standing. 
The  Van  Buskirks,  the  Grims,  the  Beekmans,  the 
Wilmerdings  and  the  Lorillards  were  men  of  affairs 
and  influence  in  the  growing  town  of  30,000  that  had 
begun  to  extend  northward  as  far  as  Canal  Street 
and  even  beyond.  But  we  look  in  vain  for  any  posi- 
tive contribution  to  the  life  of  the  embryo  metropo- 
lis of  the  world. 

Our  church  had  lost  its  roots.  The  Rhinebeck  Res- 
olution indicates  the  feeble  appreciation  of  the  dis- 
tinctive confession  to  which  she  owed  her  existence. 

19 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


The  English  hymn  books  and  liturgies  of  this  period 
are  equally  destitute  of  any  positive  confessional 
character. 

But  after  all,  the  church  in  New  York  only  re- 
flected in  a  small  way  the  conditions  that  existed  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  In  the  Fatherland 
the  national  life  had  been  declining  ever  since  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.  In  1806  Germany  reached  the 
nadir  of  her  political  life  at  the  battle  of  Jena.  In 
the  church  this  was  the  period  of  her  Babylonian 
Captivity.  Alien  currents  of  philosophical  and  theo- 
logical thought  had  devitalized  the  teaching  of  the 
Gospel.  The  old  hymns  had  been  replaced  by  pious 
reflections  on  subjects  of  religion  and  morality.  The 
Lutheran  Liturgy  had  disappeared  leaf  by  leaf  until 
little  but  the  cover  remained.  With  such  conditions 
in  the  homeland  what  could  be  expected  of  an  iso- 
lated church  on  Manhattan  Island?  Take  it  all  in 
all,  it  is  not  surprising  that  only  two  congregations 
survived.    It  is  a  wonder  that  there  were  two. 

In  **01d  New  York'*  Dr.  Francis  presents  a  vivid 
picture  of  the  social  and  religious  life  of  this  period 
and  from  it  we  learn  that  the  Lutherans  were  not 
the  only  ones  whose  religion  sat  rather  lightly  upon 
them.  French  infidelity  had  taken  deep  root  in  the 
community  and  Paine  *s  Age  of  Reason  found  enthu- 
siastic admirers. 

Fifty  years  ago  I  was  browsing  one  afternoon 
over  the  books  in  the  library  of  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  at  that  time  located  in  University  Place. 
I  was  all  alone  until  Dr.  Samuel  Hanson  Cox,  the 
father  of  Bishop  Arthur  Cleveland  Coxe,  came  in. 
He  was  then  in  his  eighties,  but  vigorous  in  mind 


20 


IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


and  body.  We  easily  became  acquainted  and  I  was 
an  eager  listener  to  the  story  of  his  early  ministry 
in  New  York,  which  fell  about  the  time  of  which  we 
are  speaking.  From  him  I  got  a  picture  of  life  in 
New  York  closely  corresponding  with  that  which  is 
given  in  Dr.  Francis'  interesting  story.  There  were 
leaders  of  the  church  in  those  days  who  were  not 
free  from  the  vice  of  drunkenness.  Evangelical  re- 
ligion in  all  denominations  had  a  severe  conflict  in 
doctrine  and  in  morals  with  the  ultra  liberal  ten- 
dencies of  the  time. 


A  marked  defect  of  our  church  life  was  the  inade- 
quate supply  of  men  for  the  ministry.  For  140  years 
New  York  Lutherans  had  been  dependent  upon  Eu- 
rope for  their  pastors.  For  60  years  more  this 
dependence  was  destined  to  continue. 

Kunze  had  long  been  desirous  of  providing  facili- 
ties for  theological  education  in  this  country.  Under 
the  bequest  of  John  Christopher  Hartwig,  he  organ- 
ized in  1797  a  Theological  Seminary.  The  theologi- 
cal department  was  conducted  in  New  York  by  him- 
self, the  collegiate  department  in  Albany  and  the 
preparatory  department  in  Otsego  County. 

One  of  his  students  was  Strebeck.  Another,  Van 
Buskirk,  a  promising  young  man,  died  before  he 
could  enter  the  work.  The  Mayer  brothers,  natives 
of  New  York,  became  eminent  pastors  of  English 
Lutheran  churches,  Philip  in  Albany  and  Frederick 
in  Philadelphia.  It  was  a  trying  time  in  which 
Kunze  lived,  but  he  planted  seed  which  still  bears 
fruit. 


21 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


One  event  of  the  eighteenth  century  seems  worthy 
of  speial  mention,  even  when  seen  through  the  vista 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  although  at  the  time 
it  may  have  attracted  little  attention.  Because  of 
the  side  light  which  it  throws  upon  history  we  per- 
mit it  to  interrupt  for  a  moment  the  course  of  our 
story. 

It  harks  back  to  the  refugees  from  the  Palatinate 
who  emigrated  to  the  west  coast  of  Ireland  at  the 
same  time  that  their  fellow  countrymen  under  Koch- 
erthal  came  to  New  York.  Their  principal  settle- 
ments were  at  Court-Matrix,  Ballingran  and  other 
places  in  County  Limerick  near  the  banks  of  the  riv- 
er Shannon.  As  they  had  no  minister  and  understood 
little  or  no  English,  in  the  course  of  forty  years  they 
lost  whatever  religion  they  had  brought  with  them 
from  Germany.  It  came  to  pass  that  John  "Wesley 
visited  these  villages.  He  found  the  people  *' emi- 
nent for  drunkenness,  cursing,  swearing,  and  an  ut- 
ter neglect  of  religion.'*  (Wesley's  Journal,  II,  p. 
429.) 

Wesley's  sermons  reminded  them  of  the  sermons 
they  used  to  hear  in  their  far-off  German  home,  and 
a  remarkable  revival  occurred  among  them.  Subse- 
quently numbers  of  them  followed  their  countrymen 
of  the  preceding  generation  to  New  York  and  some 
of  them  joined  the  Lutheran  Church.  Among  the 
names  to  be  found  on  the  records  of  our  church  are 
those  of  Barbara  Heck  and  Philip  Embury. 

Now  some  of  our  ministers,  as  far  back  as  Falck- 
ner  in  the  beginning  of  the  century,  belonged  to  the 
Halle  or  Francke  school  of  Lutheranism,  and  the 
spirit  of  our  church  life  at  this  time,  as  may  be  seen 

22 


IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


from  the  letters  of  Muhlenberg  in  the  ''Hallesche 
Nachrichten, "  was  not  alien  to  that  which  the  Pala- 
tines had  imbibed  from  John  Wesley,  himself  a  prod- 
uct of  the  Pietistic  movement  of  which  Halle  was 
the  fountain  head.  One  would  suppose  that  these 
Palatine  immigrants  from  the  west  of  Ireland  might 
have  found  a  congenial  home  in  the  Lutheran  Church 
and  contributed  to  the  spiritual  life  of  the  congre- 
gation. But  for  some  reason  they  did  not.  They 
withdrew  from  us  and  helped  to  organize  in  1766 
the  first  Methodist  Society  in  America. 

The  Methodists  of  America  number  seven  million 
communicants.  Barbara  Heck,  Philip  Embury  and 
other  Palatine  immigrants  were  our  contribution  to 
their  incipient  church  life  in  America. 


23 


In  the  Nineteenth  Century 
1801—1838 

The  history  of  our  churches  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury may  be  divided  into  three  periods.  The  first 
extends  from  1801  to  1838. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century  there  were  two 
congregations,  the  German-English  Church  on 
Frankfort  Street  and  the  English  (Zion)  on  Pearl 
Street. 

In  1802  two  hundred  members  of  the  German 
church  who  had  not  united  with  Zion  in  1797  asked 
for  a  separate  English  church.  The  request  was  de- 
clined, but  regular  services  in  English  were  held  in 
the  afternoon  with  promises  of  a  new  church  as  soon 
as  possible. 

In  1804  Strebeck,  the  pastor  of  Zion,  joined  the 
Episcopalians  and  subsequently  became  rector  of  St. 
Stephen's  Church.  Here  he  was  followed  in  the 
course  of  years  by  a  constant  procession  of  his  for- 
mer parishioners.  It  will  be  recalled  that  Zion  had 
not  been  received  into  connection  with  the  Minis- 
terium. 

In  1805  Ralph  Williston  was  chosen  pastor.  In 
1810  he  also  became  an  Episcopalian.  Not  long  af- 
ter, the  entire  congregation  followed  him  into  the 
Episcopal  fold.    The  resolution  effecting  the  change 

read  as  follows : 

"Whereas,  many  difficulties  attend  the  upholding  of 

25 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


the  Lutheran  religion  among  us,  and  whereas,  that  in- 
asmuch as  the  doctrine  and  government  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  is  so  nearly  allied  to  the  Lutheran,  and  also  on 
account  of  the  present  embarrassment  of  the  finances  of 
this  church,  tjjerefore 

"RESOLVED,  That  the  English  Lutheran  Church  with 
its  present  form  of  worship  and  government  be  dissolved 
after  Tuesday,  the  13  th  day  of  March  next,  and  that  this 
Church  do  from  that  day  forward  become  a  parish  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  present  board 
of  officers  of  this  church  take  every  measure  to  carry 
this  resolve  into  effect."* 

Kunze  died  in  1807.  His  successor,  Frederick  Wil- 
liam Geissenhainer  of  New  Hanover,  Pa.,  took  charge 
in  1808  and  remained  till  1814  when  the  state  of  his 
health  compelled  him  to  return  to  Pennsylvania. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Frederick  Christian  Schaef- 
fer  of  Harrisburg,  a  gifted  man  who  preached  equal- 
ly well  in  German  and  in  English.  On  the  tercen- 
tenary of  the  Reformation  in  1817  he  preached  a 
Reformation  sermon  in  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church 
on  Broadway,  which  attracted  widespread  attention. 
A  copy  is  preserved  in  the  New  York  Public  Library. 

After  twenty  years  the  promise  of  a  separate  Eng- 
lish church  was  fulfilled,  when  in  1822  a  large  and 
beautiful  structure  was  erected  in  Walker  Street, 
just  east  of  Broadway,  and  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
the  English  portion  of  the  congregation.  It  was 
called  St.  Matthew's  Church.  Schaeffer  was  as- 
signed to  the  pastorate  and  Geissenhainer  was  re- 
called from  Pennsylvania  to  take  charge  of  the 
German  part  of  the  congregation.    New  trouble  soon 


*On  "West  Fifty-seventh  Street,  a  few  steps  from  Car- 
negie Hall,  the  visitor  interested  in  Lutheran  antiquities 
may  find  the  stately  Episcopal  Church  of  Zion  and  St.  Tim- 
othy. It  has  a  membership  of  1.300.  Its  communion  vessels 
still  bear  the  inscription:   ZION  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

26 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


developed.  The  English  congregation  demanded 
representation  in  the  Church  Council.  This  the 
mother  church  declined  to  concede,  although  it  is 
claimed  they  had  agreed  to  do  so  when  the  English 
congregation  was  formed.  The  new  congregation 
was  unable  to  maintain  itself,  and  in  1826  the  church 
was  sold  for  a  debt  of  $14,000,  and  Pastor  Schaeffer 
resigned.  The  Walker  Street  building  was  bought 
by  Daniel  Birdsall  who  resold  it  to  the  mother 
church.  The  legal  questions  at  issue  in  the  transac- 
tion were  taken  into  court  and  decided  in  favor  of 
the  mother  church. 

A  son  of  the  pastor,  Frederick  William  Geissen- 
hainer,  Jr.,  was  called  from  Pennsylvania  to  minis- 
ter in  St.  Matthew's  Church  in  English,  so  long  as 
this  could  be  done  without  detriment  to  the  German 
congregation.  This  continued  for  three  years,  by 
which  time  a  deficit  of  $5,000  had  accumulated. 

In  the  meantime  the  congregation  of  Frankfort 
Street  had  grown  to  such  an  extent  that  it  decided 
to  sell  the  Old  Swamp  Church,  and  move  into  the 
spacious  building  on  Walker  Street,  where  it  also 
acquired  the  name  of  the  English  congregation  and 
was  thereafter  known  as  St.  Matthew's  Church.  The 
younger  Geissenhainer  continued  to  hold  English 
services  in  the  afternoon  until  1840.  The  senior  Geis- 
senhainer served  the  German  part  of  the  congrega- 
tion until  his  death  in  1838. 

After  Pastor  Schaeffer  resigned  in  1826  he  collect- 
ed the  salvage  of  the  English  enterprises  and  or- 
ganized a  new  English  church,  St.  James,  which  he 
served  until  his  death  in  1831. 

Among  the  major  happenings  in  this  period  were 

27 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


the  Burr-Hamilton  duel,  the  launching  of  Fulton's 
steamboat,  the  introduction  of  Croton  water,  the 
opening  of  the  Erie  Canal,  the  writings  of  Washing- 
ton Irving,  and  the  organization  of  the  American  Bi- 
ble Society  and  the  American  Tract  Society. 

Such  tnings  as  social  service,  church  extension  or 
confessional  questions  had  not  yet  begun  to  disturb 
the  churches.  Our  people  had  all  the  time  they  want- 
ed therefore  for  controversy  on  the  undying  ques- 
tion of  the  relative  importance  of  the  English  and 
German  languages.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  led  to  a 
lawsuit,  the  sale  of  a  church  and  the  permanent  rup- 
ture of  a  historic  congregation.  We  lost  one  Eng- 
lish congregation,  Zion,  disbanded  another,  St.  Mat- 
thew's, and  sent  away  enough  English  members  be- 
sides to  constitute  St.  Stephen's  Episcopal  Church 
on  Chrystie  Street. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  story  of  the  Lutherans  of 
New  York  during  the  first  third  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  In  the  Fatherland  great  events  were  tak- 
ing place  and  history  was  making  rapid  strides.  The 
war  of  liberation  was  decided  by  the  battle  of  Leip- 
zig and  the  defeat  of  Napoleon.  But  the  hopes  for 
social  and  political  improvement  were  disappointed 
by  reactionary  movements  and  economic  distress.  A 
new  emigration  to  *'the  land  of  unbounded  possibil- 
ities" began.  In  1821-22  it  amounted  to  531,  in 
1834-35  it  was  25,997.  Among  the  immigrants  were 
many  who  in  various  capacities  became  empire 
builders  in  America.  But  in  all  that  related  to  the 
Lutheran  church  New  York  at  this  time  took  a  sub- 
ordinate place.  Philadelphia  was  the  first  city  of 
the  land.    The  construction   of   railroads    and   th». 

28 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  carried  the  active  and  am- 
bitious men  far  into  the  interior.  The  church  life 
of  J^Tew  York  still  flowed  in  sluggish  currents.  After 
190  years,  from  1648,  when  the  first  appeal  for  a 
minister  was  sent  to  Amsterdam,  to  1838,  our  enroll- 
ment consisted  of  two  congregations,  the  German- 
English  church  of  St.  Matthew,  and  the  English 
church  of  St.  James. 


In  the  Nineteenth  Century 
1839-1865 

Immigration  began  to  assume  large  proportions. 
It  did  not  reach  its  climax  until  the  following  period, 
but  it  was  sufficiently  large  to  awaken  attention.  In 
1839  21,028  immigrants  arrived  here  from  Germany; 
in  1865,  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  83,424.  Most 
of  these  were  bound  for  the  interior,  but  many  who 
had  only  stopped  to  rest  a  while  in  New  York  de- 
cided to  make  this  their  home. 

The  East  Side  became  a  little  Germany  and  even 
on  the  West  Side  Germans  began  to  appear  in  in- 
creasing numbers. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  period  an  event  occurred, 
unnoticed  at  the  time,  which  proved  to  be  the  begin- 
ning of  a  great  movement,  ''a  cloud  out  of  the  sea, 
as  small  as  a  man's  hand."  In  1839  a  thousand  ex- 
iles arrived  from  Germany  under  the  leadership  of 
Pastor  Grabau.  Most  of  them  went  to  the  interior, 
some  to  Buffalo,  others,  the  wealthier  members,  to 
the  neighborhood  of  Milwaukee.  Ten  or  a  dozen 
families  remained  in  New  York  with  a  pastor  named 
Maximilian  Oertel.  Their  services  were  held  in  a 
hall  at  the  corner  of  Houston  Street  and  Avenue  A. 
Doubtless  none  of  their  contemporaries  ever  dreamed 
that  this  insignificant  congregation  was  related  to 
one  of  the  larger  movements  of  church  history. 

Connecting  links  were  two  men  whose   names   I 

31 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 

have  never  seen  associated  with  the  story  of  the 
Lutherans  of  New  York.  One  of  them  was  Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Kurtz  of  Hagerstown,  the  other  was  Frederick 
"William  III,  King  of  Prussia.  The  king  had  imposed 
the  Union  upon  the  churches  of  Prussia  and  impris- 
oned the  pastors  who  refused  to  conform.  This  was 
the  king*s  part  in  the  movement.  Dr.  Kurtz  had  vis- 
ited Berlin  in  1826  in  the  interest  of  his  educational 
schemes  and  in  one  of  his  addresses  he  implanted  the 
microbe  of  America  in  the  mind  of  a  man  who  sub- 
sequently became  a  leader  of  one  band  of  these  pil- 
grims to  the  promised  land.  This  was  Dr.  Kurtz's 
share  in  the  work.  Both  Kurtz  and  the  king  were 
unconscious  instruments  in  the  hands  of  Providence. 

Dr.  Kurtz  was  for  a  large  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  a  distinguished  leader  in  the  General  Synod. 
He  contributed  to  the  establishment  of  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  at  Gettysburg  and  he  was  the  founder 
of  the  Missionary  Institute,  now  the  Susquehanna 
University,  at  Selinsgrove.  He  died  in  1865,  His 
grave  is  in  the  campus  of  the  University  of  which  he 
was  the  founder. 

But  who  were  these  immigrants  and  how  did  they 
come  to  be  exiles  ?  This  is  another  story ;  but  it  has 
to  be  told,  because  in  the  providence  of  God  it  is  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  the  Lutherans  in  New 
York. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  there 
occurred  a  remarkable  religious  awakening  in  Ger- 
many. This  awakening  had  much  to  do  with  a  re- 
vival of  Lutheranism.  It  had  been  greatly  strength- 
ened at  least  by  the  publication  of  the  Ninety-five 
Theses  of  Glaus  Harms  in  1817,  on  the  occasion  of 

32 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


the  tercentenary  of  the  Reformation,  and  it  in  turn 
stimulated  the  Lutheran  consciousness  of  multitudes 
who  had  been  carried  away  by  the  rationalistic 
movement  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  publica- 
tion of  the  royal  Liturgy  in  1822  and  the  forcible 
measures  of  the  king  in  ordering  a  union  of  the 
Lutheran  and  Reformed  churches  of  the  kingdom 
called  forth  the  staunch  opposition  of  the  Lutherans. 
This  ended  in  a  widespread  agitation  which  sent  mul- 
titudes of  families  to  a  land  where  one  of  the  chief 
fruits  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation,  that  of  religious 
liberty,  could  be  enjoyed. 

The  notable  thing  about  the  entrance  of  a  few  of 
these  people  into  our  New  York  life  was  that  it  in- 
jected new  ideas  into  the  stagnant  mentality  of  the 
period.  That  the  men  who  brought  them  were 
brusque  and  exclusive,  was  of  small  account.  When 
Stohlmann,  who  had  recently  been  called  to  St.  Mat- 
thew's Church,  visited  Pastor  Oertel  in  his  attic 
room,  his  Lutheranism,  with  a  sly  allusion  perhaps 
to  the  stairs,  was  promptly  challenged  by  the  re- 
mark: ''You  climbed  up  some  other  way." 

Nor  did  it  matter  that  on  some  points  the  new 
comers  themselves  were  not  agreed  ?  The  Prussians, 
later  knowTi  as  ''Buffalonians,"  led  by  Grabau,  had 
a  hierarchical  theory  of  the  ministerial  office.  The 
Saxons,  later  known  as  *'Missourians,"  led  by  Wal- 
ther,  had  the  congregational  theory  of  church  gov- 
ernment. For  a  score  of  years  a  titanic  conflict  was 
waged  between  these  two  parties.  It  ended  in  a 
decisive  victory  for  ** Missouri."  Today  ''Buffalo" 
numbers  49  congregations,  "Missouri"  3,689. 

The  Houston  Street  party  in  1839  held  hierarch- 

33 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 

ical  views.  Subsequently  they  adopted  the  congre- 
gational theory  of  the  church  and  established  in 
1843  the  first  "Missouri"  congregation  in  New  York 
under  Pastor  Brohm.  After  several  removals  the 
congregation  settled  at  Ninth  Street  and  Avenue  B, 
where  it  still  maintains  its  place  of  worship. 

The  chief  field  of  the  "Missourians,"  as  their  name 
indicates,  is  in  the  West.  And  yet  in  Greater  New 
York  they  number  51  churches  and  many  more  in 
the  suburbs.  They  maintain  numerous  missions 
among  special  classes.  At  Bronxville  they  have  a 
college.  They  alone  of  all  Lutherans  make  a  serious 
effort  to  conduct  parochial  schools.  More  than  any 
other  variety  of  Lutherans  do  they  educate  their 
promising  young  men  for  the  ministry. 

But,  as  has  already  been  intimated,  the  chief  sig- 
nificance of  their  entrance  into  New  York  history  is 
that  thenceforth  Lutherans  had  to  give  an  account 
of  their  Lutheranism.  Whether  you  agreed  with 
them  or  not,  you  had  to  take  sides  and  give  a  reason 
for  the  hope  that  was  in  you.  They  brought  about 
that  *' contiguity  of  conflicting  opinions"  which  is  a 
condition  of  all  progress. 


Ten  years  later  a  different  class  of  Grerman  im- 
migrants came  to  our  city.  The  Revolution  of  1848 
had  resulted  unsuccessfully  for  the  friends  of  polit- 
ical freedom,  and  many  were  compelled  to  take  ref- 
uge in  America.  Some  were  professional  men  of 
ability  and  high  standing,  whose  contribution  to  the 
intellectual  life  of  our  city  was  considerable.  Others 
were  only  half  educated,  young  men  who  had  not 
completed  their  studies  in  the  University,  but,  in- 

34 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


toxicated  with  the  new  ideas,  had  thrown  themselves 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  into  the  conflict  for 
freedom.  Here  they  were  like  men  without  a  coun- 
try, aliens  from  the  Fatherland,  and  in  America  in- 
capable of  comprehending  a  state  without  a  church 
and  a  church  without  a  state. 

Few  of  these  found  their  way  into  the  Lutheran 
churches  of  New  York.  They  were  the  intellectuals 
of  the  German  community  and  had  outgrown  the  re- 
ligion of  their  countrymen  who  still  adhered  to  the 
old  faith. 

Our  churches  received  but  little  support  from  this 
large  and  influential  class.  Many  of  them  had  long 
since  renounced  allegiance  to  Jesus,  and  in  the  free 
air  of  America  looked  upon  churches  as  anachron- 
isms and  hearthstones  of  superstition.  Their  influ- 
ence upon  the  common  people  and  upon  the  social 
life  of  the  German  community  was  hostile  to  that  of 
Christianity.  The  churches  had  to  get  along  without 
them,  or  rather,  in  spite  of  them.  There  were  nota- 
ble exceptions.  But  as  a  rule  the  **Achtundvierzig- 
er'*  did  not  go  to  church. 

Still,  in  spite  of  their  unchurchly  views,  most  of 
them  were  unable  to  shake  off  wholly  the  forms  of 
their  ancestral  religion.  There  were  too  many  rem- 
nants ( superstites )  of  the  old  faith  binding  them  to 
ancient  customs.  Independent  ministers  with  no  sy- 
nodical  relations,  with  or  without  certificate  of  or- 
dination, or  the  endorsement  of  organized  congrega- 
tions, unmindful  of  the  nisi  vocatus  clause  in  the 
Augsburg  Confession,  helped  to  maintain  the  forms 
of  an  inherited  Christianity  by  performing  such  min- 
isterial acts  as  were  required  by  the  people.    At  one 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YORK 


time  these  free  lances  were  quite  numerous.  At 
present  no  representatives  survive  in  New  York. 

But  there  was  another  class  of  immigrants  that 
came  to  us  from  the  Fatherland.  They,  too,  sought 
to  escape  from  political  and  economical  conditions 
that  had  rested  like  an  incubus  upon  a  divided  coun- 
try for  centuries.  But  they  brought  with  them  a 
spirit  of  Christian  aspiration  and  the  ripe  fruit  of  a 
traditional  Christian  culture  which  became  a  price- 
less contribution  to  our  own  church  life.  They  were 
men  and  women  from  all  corners  of  Germany,  who 
had  come  under  the  inspiration  of  the  religious 
awakening  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made.  They  became  leading  workers  in  our  congre- 
gations and  Christian  enterprises.  We,  whose  privi- 
lege it  was  to  minister  to  them,  knew  well  that  we 
were  only  reaping  where  others  far  away  and  long 
ago  had  sown. 

The  inability  of  tlie  Lutheran  Church  to  supply 
an  adequate  ministry  for  this  vast  immigrant  popu- 
lation left  the  way  open  also  for  other  Protestant 
churches  to  do  mission  work  among  the  lapsed  mem- 
bers of  our  communion. 

A  number  of  churches  were  established  where 
services  in  the  beginning  were  held  in  the  Ger- 
man or  Scandinavian  languages.  Through  Sunday 
Schools  and  other  agencies  many  Lutheran  children 
were  gathered  into  their  congregations  where  they 
and  their  children  are  now  useful  and  honored  mem- 
bers of  the  church.  A  goodly  number  of  eminent 
ministers  in  various  non-Lutheran  Protestant  church- 
es of  this  city  are  the  children  or  grandchildren  of 
Lutheran  narents. 

36 


CARL  F.  E.  STOHLMANN.  D.D. 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


With  this  general  outlook  over  the  period,  let  us 
take  up  the  thread  of  our  story. 

On  the  death  of  the  elder  Geissenhainer  in  1838, 
Karl  Stohlmann,  a  native  of  Schaumburg  Lippe,  was 
called  from  Erie,  Pennsylvania,  to  be  his  successor. 
For  thirty  years  the  pastor  of  the  Walker  Street 
Church  was  an  important  figure  among  the  Luther- 
ans of  this  city.  The  scope  of  this  book  will  not 
permit  an  adequate  account  of  his  labors.  He  died 
on  Sunday  morning,  May  3d,  1868,  just  as  his  con- 
gregation was  entering  a  larger  house  of  worship  at 
the  corner  of  Broome  and  Elizabeth  Streets. 

Dr.  Geissenhainer,  Jr.,  retired  from  the  English 
work  of  St.  Matthew's  Church  in  1840  and  organized 
a  German  congregation,  St.  Paul's,  on  the  west  side, 
which  he  served  as  pastor  until  his  death  in  1879 
in  the  82d  year  of  his  age. 

On  the  East  Side,  Trinity  was  organized  in  1843, 
St.  Mark's  in  1847,  St.  Peter's  in  1862,  Immanuel,  in 
Yorkville,  in  1863,  and  St.  John's  in  Harlem  in  1864. 
On  the  West  Side  St.  Luke's  was  established  in  1850, 
St.  John's  in  1855  and  St.  Paul's  in  Harlem  in  1864. 
The  first  Swedish  congregation,  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
was  organized  in  1865. 

Within  the  present  limits  of  Brooklyn  six  German 
and  one  English  churches  were  established  during 
this  period.  On  the  territory  of  each  of  the  other 
boroughs,  Bronx,  Queens  and  Richmond,  two  Ger- 
man churches  came  into  being. 

After  the  Revolution  of  1848  in  Germany,  immi- 
gration to  America  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds, 
and  within  the  time  under  review  New  York  was  re- 

37 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 

ferred  to  as  the  fourth  Grerman  city  in  the  world. 

But  the  Germans,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  all  go 
to  church.  The  existing  churches,  it  is  true,  were 
well  filled,  but  a  large  proportion  of  the  population, 
torn  from  the  stable  environment  of  their  homeland 
life,  and  transplanted  into  the  new  conditions  of  a 
crowded  city,  failed  to  respond  to  the  claims  of  their 
ancestral  religion. 

In  our  church  polity  there  was  no  adequate  pro- 
vision for  the  needs  of  such  an  immense  and  ever 
expanding  population.  Now  and  then  a  broad- 
minded  pastor  would  encourage  the  planting  of  a 
church  in  some  needy  field,  but  too  often  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  mission  was  looked  upon  as  an 
encroachment  on  the  parochial  rights  of  the  older 
congregation.  At  this  point  in  the  congregational 
polity  of  our  church  the  absence  of  a  directing  mind 
and  a  unifying  force  was  sorely  felt. 


The  condition  of  immigrants  at  the  port  of  New 
York  was  for  many  years  a  public  scandal.  In  1847 
the  State  of  New  York  appointed  Commissioners  of 
Immigration.  Under  the  Act  of  March  3,  1891,  the 
Commissioner  was  appointed  by  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. 

Before  this  was  done,  the  helpless  immigrants 
were  the  prey  of  countless  vampires,  chiefly  in  the 
form  of  ** runners,"  agents  of  boarding  houses  and 
transportation  companies.  These  pirates  of  the  land 
exacted  a  heavy  toll  from  all  foreigners  who  ven- 
tured to  enter  our  city  by  way  of  the  steerage. 

In  1864  Robert  Neumann,  who  had  been  a  co- 
laborer  with  Gutzlaff,  a  pioneer  missionary  in  China, 

38 


PASTOR  WILHELM  H.  BERKEMEIER 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


established  an  Immigrant  Mission  at  Castle  Garden 
and  succeeded  in  awakening  an  interest  in  this  cause. 

A  few  years  later,  in  the  subsequent  period,  the 
churches  took  up  the  question  of  providing  for  the 
needs  of  the  immigrants. 

The  Deutsches  Emigrantenhaus  was  incorporated 
in  1871.  Pastor  Wilhelm  Heinrich  Berkemeier  be- 
came the  first  housefather.  His  unflagging  zeal  gave 
strong  support  to  a  much-needed  work  of  love.  His 
venerable  personality  was  a  benediction  to  his  con- 
temporaries. 

In  the  course  of  the  years  eight  Lutheran  Immi- 
grant Houses  and  Seamen's  Missions  have  been  es- 
tablished at  this  port  and  are  doing  effective  Chris- 
tian work. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  period,  in  1864,  a  seed 
was  planted  on  the  Wartburg  near  Mount  Vernon 
which  has  grown  to  be  a  great  tree. 

Peter  Moller,  a  wealthy  layman,  had  met  with  a 
great  sorrow  in  the  death  of  his  son.  He  was  plan- 
ning to  expend  a  large  sum  for  a  monument  in  mem- 
ory of  this  son,  when  Dr.  Passavant,  an  eminent 
worker  in  behalf  of  invalids  and  orphans,  called 
upon  him,  perhaps  with  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  con- 
tribution for  some  of  his  numerous  charities.  To 
him  Mr.  Moller  confided  his  purpose.  It  did  not 
take  long  to  outline  the  plan  of  a  nobler  memorial 
than  the  proposed  shaft  in  G-reenwood.  With  $30,000 
a  hundred  acres  of  land  were  bought  and  a  house 
of  mercy  was  established  which  for  fifty  years  has 
been  a  blessing  not  only  to  the  orphans  who  have 
been  sheltered    and   trained  there,  but  also  to  the 

39 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 

churches  of  New  York  that  have  been  privileged  to 
contribute  to  its  support. 

Its  first  housefather  was  George  Carl  Holls,  one 
of  the  brethren  of  Wichem  's  Rauhe  Haus  near  Ham- 
burg. In  1886  he  was  succeeded  by  Pastor  Gottlieb 
Conrad  Berkemeier,  who  with  the  help  of  his  wife, 
Susette  Kraeling,  has  brought  the  institution  to  a  po- 
sition of  great  prosperity  and  usefulness. 


iO 


In  the  Nineteenth  Century 
1866—1900 

Three  factors  combined  to  make  this  period  event- 
ful in  our  history :  confessionalism,  immigration  and 
the  transportation  facilities  that  led  to  a  Greater 
New  York. 

At  the  close  of  the  Civil  "War  we  had  24  Lutheran 
churches  on  the  territory  now  included  in  Greater 
New  York.  Two  of  these  were  English  and  the  rest 
were  German.  At  the  close  of  the  century  the  rec- 
ord stood  :  Yiddish,  1 ;  English,  17 ;  Scandinavian,  19 ; 
German  and  German-English,  60. 

The  tide  of  confessionalism  which  had  been  rising 
in  Europe  for  half  a  century  touched  America  in  the 
forties  and  reached  a  high  water  mark  during  the 
period  under  review.  The  question  of  subscription 
to  the  symbols  of  the  Book  of  Concord  became  the 
chief  subject  of  discussion  among  our  theologians. 

In  1866  a  number  of  pastors  and  churches,  under 
the  leadership  of  Pastor  Steimle,  severed  their  con- 
nection with  the  Ministerium  for  confessional  rea- 
sons. They  formed  a  new  synod  which  adopted  all 
the  Confessions  and  took  a  firm  stand  in  opposition 
to  membership  in  secret  societies. 

The  ''Steimle"  Synod,  as  it  was  usually  called, 
disbanded  in  1872,  its  members  going,  some  to  the 
Jilissouri  Synod,  others  to  the  Ministerium.     Their 

41 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


organ,  the  Lutherisches  Kirchenblatt,  was  merged 
with  the  Lutherischer  Herold. 

Pastor  Steimle  died  in  1880.  He  was  a  devout 
man,  a  rugged  personality,  beloved  by  his  people 
and  esteemed  by  his  colleagues.  His  congregation  in 
Brooklyn,  now  served  by  the  pastors  Kraeling,  fa- 
ther and  son,  is  one  of  the  strong  churches  of  the 
city. 

One  of  the  early  members  of  the  congregation, 
whose  support  meant  much  for  his  pastor,  was  Jacob 
Goedel.  He  subsequently  returned  to  Germany  and 
spent  his  latter  years  in  the  city  of  Koeln  on  the 
Rhine. 

In  1888  I  spent  a  memorable  week  in  Koeln.  The 
history  of  the  city  antedates  the  Christian  era.  Its 
cathedral  is  a  fane  of  wonderful  beauty.  In  the 
Reformation  Koeln  joined  the  Lutheran  forces  and 
for  eighty  years  two  of  its  archbishops  were  Luth- 
eran pastors.  The  **  Consultation "  of  Archbishop 
Hermann  is  one  oi  the  liturgies  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  It  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Anglican  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  Ow- 
ing to  political  jealousies  among  the  Protestants,  the 
fortunes  of  war  restored  the  city  and  the  cathedral 
to  the  Catholics.  Until  recent  times  Protestantism 
was  an  almost  negligible  force  in  Koeln.  At  the 
time  of  my  visit  the  Protestant  Churches  were  very 
efficient  in  all  kinds  of  religious  and  social  work 
and  had  an  influence  in  the  City  Council  out  of  all 
proportion  to  their  numbers.  Inquiring  into  the  rea- 
son of  this  cnange  I  was  told  that  it  was  largely 
owing  to  the  labors  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Jacob 
Groedel  who  had  come  to  them  from  America  and  had 


i^ 


r.OTTLOB  FREDERICK  KROTEL,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


introduced  American  methods  of  church  work  into 
Koeln. 

In  1867  another  synodical  split  took  place.  The 
New  York  Ministerium  separated  from  the  General 
Synod  on  confessional  grounds  and  took  part  in  the 
organization  of  the  General  Council.  Thereupon 
most  of  the  English-speaking  members,  occupying  a 
milder  confessional  basis,  left  the  Ministerium, 
formed  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  united  with  the 
General  Synod.* 

The  lines  of  three  synodical  bodies.  General  Coun- 
cil. General  Synod  and  S}Tiodical  Conference,  that 
is  ''Missouri,"  were  now  distinctly  drawn  and  for 
the  rest  of  the  century  the  relations  of  Lutheran 
ministers  and  churches  were  sharply  defined.  Min- 
isters were  kept  busy  in  explaining  the  differences, 
but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  some  of  the  laymen  did 
not  always  understand. 

In  1868  members  of  St.  James  Church,  who  sym- 
pathized with  the  attitude  of  the  General  Council 
in  favor  of  a  stricter  confessional  basis,  organized  a 
new  English  congregation.  Holy  Trinity,  of  which 
Dr.  Krotel  became  the  first  pastor.  Dr.  Wedekind 
was  called  to  St.  James.  Both  men,  pastors  of  Eng- 
lish congregations,  had  come  from  Germany  in  their 
early  youth,  were  educated  in  American  schools  and 


♦The  author's  connection  with  the  work  in  New  York  be- 
gran  about  this  time.  After  graduation  at  Yale  College  in 
1865,  he  found  employment  in  a  New  York  library,  and  soon 
after  matriculated  as  a  student  in  Union  Theological  Sem- 
inary. The  needs  of  Protestant  Germans  on  the  East  Side 
attracted  him  into  mission  work  which  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  a  congregation  of  which  he  took  pastoral 
charge  upon  his  ordination  by  the  Synod  of  New  York,  Oc- 
tober 19th,  186S. 

i3 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


were  thoroughly  acquainted  with  American  institu- 
tions. For  a  generation  these  two  men,  each  in  his 
own  sphere,  on  opposite  sides  of  a  high  synodical 
fence,  contributed  much  to  the  growth  and  progress 
of  the  churches  in  this  city. 

Immigration  from  Lutheran  lands  continued  to  in- 
crease and  reached  its  high  water  mark  in  this 
period. 

Prior  to  1867  there  were  few  Swedes  in  New  York. 
In  1870  they  numbered  less  than  3,000.  The  immi- 
grants were  chiefly  farmers  who  settled  in  the  "West. 
In  1883  large  numbers  began  to  come  from  the  cities 
of  Sweden  and  these  settled  in  the  cities  of  the  East. 
In  1900  the  census  credited  New  York  with  29,000 
Swedes.  In  1910,  including  the  children,  there  were 
57,464,  of  which  56,766  were  Protestants.  . 

The  first  Swedish  Lutheran  church  was  organized 
in  1865  by  Pastor  Andreen  who  had  been  sent  here 
for  this  purpose  by  the  Augustana  Synod.  Among 
the  first  trustees  was  Captain  John  Ericsson,  the  in- 
ventor of  the  Monitor.  Its  first  pastor  was  Axel 
Waetter,  a  cultured  minister  of  the  Swedish  Nation- 
al Church. 

At  present  there  are  fourteen  Swedish  Lutheran 
churches  in  New  York  reporting  a  membership  of 
8,626  souls. 

An  Immigrant  House  in  Manhattan,  a  Home  for 
the  Aged  and  an  Orphans'  Home  in  Brooklyn,  and 
Upsala  College  in  Kenilworth,  N.  J.,  represent  the 
institutional  work  of  the  Swedish  Lutherans. 

To  Pastor  Lauritz  Larsen  I  am  indebted  for  the 
following  sketch  of  our  Norwegian  churches ; 


44 


IN"  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


"The  Norwegians  have  always  been  a  sea-faring  peo- 
ple and  a  people  looking  for  fields  of  labor  all  over  the 
World.  The  real  immigration  begins  about  1849,  but 
there  were  Scandinavians  on  Manhattan  Island  in  the 
Sixteenth  Century.  The  Bronx  is  named  after  a  Danish 
farmer,  Jonas  Bronck. 

"I  believe  that  the  first  Norwegian  Lutheran  Church 
In  New  York  was  organized  by  Lauritz  Larsen,  then  Nor- 
wegian Professor  in  Theology  at  Concordia  Seminary,  St. 
Louis,  who  stopped  here  for  a  while  on  his  way  to  and 
from  Norway  in  the  early  sixties.  The  first  resident  pas- 
tor was  Ole  Juul,  who  came  to  New  York  in  1866  and 
labored  here  until  1876,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Pas- 
tor Everson,  who  was  actively  engaged  as  pastor  in  New 
York  and  Brooklyn  from  187  3,  until  1917,  when  failing 
health  compelled  him  to  retire. 

"At  present,  the  Norwegian  Lutheran  churches  of 
Greater  New  York  are  carrying  on  an  active  and  ag- 
gressive work.  Their  total  membership  is  not  as  large 
as  it  might  be.  Partly  because  the  Norwegians  coming 
here  from  the  State  Church  do  not  at  once  realize  the 
importance  or  necessity  of  becoming  members  of  local 
congregations,  but  have  the  idea  that  as  long  as  they 
attend  services,  have  their  children  baptized  and  con- 
firmed, and  so  forth,  they  are  members  of  the  church. 
The  report  of  the  membership  of  the  churches  is  there- 
fore, hardly  a  correct  indication  of  the  number  of  people 
reached  or  even  the  strength  of  the  Norwegian  Luther- 
ans in  the  Metropolis. 

"The  language  question  is  one  of  great  difficulty.  Many 
of  our  people  live,  as  it  were,  with  one  foot  in  Norway 
and  one  in  America,  and  are  thinking  of  returning  to 
the  old  country  at  some  time  or  other.  There  is  also 
a  constant  influx  of  new  people  from  Norway  which 
makes  it  imperative  to  have  Norwegian  services  con- 
stantly. On  the  other  hand,  the  young  people  are  rap- 
idly Americanized  and  prefer  to  use  the  language  of  the 
country,  which  necessitates  English  work,  and  where  this 
demand  is  made,  the  young  people  are,  generally  speak- 
ing, quite  loyal  to  their  church,  but  it  is  no  easy  matter 
to  satisfy  both  elements  and  to  keep  the  old  and  the 
young  together  in  the  same  church. 

"The  Norwegians  have  been  very  active  in  Inner  Mis- 
sion and  Social  Service  work.  As  witness:  the  organi- 
sation of  the  Norwegian  Lutheran  Deaconesses'  Home 


45 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


and  Hospital  about  thirty  years  ago.  This  institution 
has  now  grown  to  be  the  largest  Norwegian  charitable 
institution  in  the  country  and  has  a  splendidly  equipped 
modern  hospital  and  an  excellent  Sisters'  Home,  which 
together  represent  a  value  of  $500,000.  It  is  not  owned 
by  a  church,  but  is  owned  and  controlled  by  a  corpora- 
tion of  Norwegian  Lutherans. 

"The  churches  have  directly  been  engaged  in  Inner 
Miission  work  for  a  number  of  years,  and  now  have  three 
city  missionaries  constantly  at  work.  The  institutions 
conducted  by  this  branch  of  the  service  are  the  Bethesda 
Rescue  Mission  at  Woodhull  St.,  Brooklyn,  the  Day  Nurs- 
ery at  4  6th  St.,  Brooklyn,  and  an  extensive  industrial 
plant  also  in  Brooklyn.  Besides  the  Inner  Mission  has 
purchased  land  on  Staten  Island  and  erected  a  cottage 
there  for  a  summer  colony  for  poor  children.  The  Nor- 
wegians of  New  York  have  also  built  a  modern  Chil- 
dren's Home  at  Dyker  Heights,  Brooklyn.  Although  this 
is  not  owned  by  the  church,  but  by  a  corporation  of  Nor- 
wegians, its  constitution  provides  that  the  religious  in- 
struction should  be  based  upon  Luther's  Small  Cate- 
chism. The  Home  is  now  taking  care  of  sixty  children, 
and  is  in  charge  of  a  Deaconess  from  the  local  mother 
house  mentioned  above.  A  new  Inner  Mission  Agency 
was  started  two  years  ago  when  the  late  C.  M.  Eger  be- 
queathed a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  establishment  of 
the  Old  People's  Home  in  connection  with  Our  Saviour's 
Lutheran  Church.  At  present  it  is  located  in  his  former 
home,  112  Pulaski  Street,  and  will,  no  doubt,  be  of  great 
importance  for  our  church  work  in  the  future." 

The  statistics  of  the  Scandinavian  churches  are 
presented  in  part  in  the  following  table.  The  fig- 
ares  of  the  first  and  second  lines  are  taken  from  the 
United  States  Census  of  1910.  They  include  the 
children  where  one  or  both  parents  are  of  foreign 
descent.  Those  of  the  third  line  are  obtained  by  de- 
ducting 10  per  cent,  from  the  number  of  Protestants, 
in  the  second  line.  The  number  of  "souls,"  fourth 
line,  is  the  aggregate  number  of  baptized  persons, 
old  or  young,  connected  with  or  related  to  the  re- 
spective congregations. 


46 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


Norwe- 

Swedes  gians 

Danes 

Finns 

Total 

1. 

Population    ...58,464    34,733 

13,197 

10,304 

116,698 

2. 

Protestants   ...56,766    33,344 

11,996 

10,304 

112,410 

3. 

Lutherans     ...51,090   30,010 

10,797 

9.274 

101,171 

4. 

Souls 8,365    10,433 

950 

2,540 

22,288 

5. 

Communicants.    3,829      2,152 

422 

840 

7.643 

6. 

No.  of  Churches        13           12 

3 

3 

31 

Prior  to  1871  Germans  were  a  negligible  quantity 
in  the  political  history  of  Europe.  Divided  into  a 
multitude  of  tribes,  with  divergent  interests,  for  cen- 
turies they  had  no  political  standing  and  were  the 
football  of  the  nations  around  them.  From  Louis 
XIV  to  the  Corsican  invader,  except  during  the  reign 
of  Frederick  the  Great,  their  history  was  one  of  po- 
litical incohesion  and  economic  poverty. 

Even  in  New  York  they  were  looked  upon  as  ali- 
ens in  the  city  which  they  had  helped  to  found  and 
where  in  three  centuries  their  sons  had  stood  in  the 
forefront  of  the  battle  for  freedom.  The  names  of 
Jacob  Leisler,  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Peter  Zen- 
ger  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Franz  Lieber  and  Karl 
Schurz  of  the  nineteenth  century  are  indelibly  in- 
scribed among  the  champions  of  freedom  in  America. 
Yet  fifty  years  ago  ''Dutch"  in  New  York  had  al- 
most the  same  evaluation  that  *' Sheeny'*  and 
''Dago"  have  today. 

In  1871  the  divergent  fragments  of  the  German 
people,  after  many  futile  experiments  in  their  his- 
tory, at  last  attained  national  unity.  The  Germans 
of  New  York  celebrated  the  event  with  a  procession 
which  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  city.  From 
that  day  forward  they  were  no  longer  held  below  par 
in  popular  estimation.    This  became  manifest  in  the 

47 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YOHK: 


success  of  their  efforts  in  the  field  of  social  and  re- 
ligious work.  Thirty  German  churches  were  added 
to  the  roll  before  the  close  of  the  century. 


The  completion  of  the  Elevated  Lines  in  1879  and 
the  Brooklyn  Bridge  in  1883  changed  the  course  of 
history  for  our  Lutheran  congregations.  For  dec- 
ades the  ever-increasing  hosts  of  immigrants  had 
been  interned  in  unwholesome  tenements  on  a  nar- 
row island.  Now  ways  of  escape  were  found.  AYide 
thoroughfares  led  in  every  direction.  The  churches 
in  Brooklyn  and  Bronx  grew  rapidly  in  numbers  and 
in  strength. 

It  was  hard  for  those  of  us  who  still  held  the  fort 
on  Manhattan  Island  to  see  the  congregations  we 
had  gathered  with  painstaking  effort  scattering  in 
every  direction,  especially  to  lose  the  children  and 
the  grandchildren  of  our  faithful  families.  But  when 
we  saw  them  in  the  comfortable  homes  and  open 
spaces  of  the  suburbs,  who  could  wish  them  to  re- 
turn to  the  hopeless  atmosphere  of  the  tenements? 
From  this  time  forward  the  churches  of  the  sur- 
rounding boroughs  grew  rapidly,  largely  at  the  ex- 
pense, however,  of  the  churches  of  Manhattan. 

From  1881  to  the  close  of  the  century  Bronx  add- 
ed nine  churches,  Eichmond  five,  Brooklyn  and 
Queens  thirty-two  to  the  roll.  Manhattan,  it  is  true, 
also  added  eleven  churches,  but  they  were  all  above 
Forty-second  Street,  most  of  them  far  uptown. 


The  tenth  of  November,  1883,  was  a  red  letter  day 
in  our  calendar.  It  was  the  quadricentennial  of  Lu- 
ther's birthday.     The  preparations  for  the  celebra- 


48 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


tion  met  with  a  hearty  response  in  the  city.  The 
large  dailies  gave  much  space  to  the  occasion.  Dr. 
Seiss  delivered  a  memorable  address  in  Steinway 
Hall.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Evangelical  Alli- 
ance a  distinguished  company  gathered  in  the  Acad- 
emy of  Music  and  heard  William  Taylor  and  Phil- 
lips Brooks  deliver  orations  of  majestic  eloquence. 
The  celebration  gave  a  marked  impulse  to  our 
church  work.  Our  congregations  increased  in  num- 
bers and  in  influence.  Its  chief  value  was  in  its  ef- 
fect upon  the  young  people.  Hitherto  they  hardly 
comprehended  the  significance  of  their  church.  Its 
services  were  conducted  in  a  language  which  they 
understood  with  difficulty.  As  they  grew  up  and 
established  new  homes  in  the  suburbs  where  there 
were  few  churches  of  their  faith,  they  easily  drifted 
out  of  their  communion.  A  great  change  came  over 
them  at  this  time.  They  began  to  take  an  active 
interest  in  church  questions  and  in  church  extension. 
As  they  followed  the  inevitable  trend  to  the  suburbs 
they  connected  themselves  with  churches  of  their 
faith  or  organized  new  ones  and  became  active  work- 
ers in  them.  The  remarkable  increase  of  congrega- 
tions in  the  entire  Metropolitan  District  was  to  a 
large  extent  owing  to  the  impulse  derived  from  the 
quadricentennial  of  1883. 


When  Lutherans  of  various  churches  and  synods 
were  thus  brought  together  there  was  one  thing  that 
puzzled  them.  They  could  not  understand  why 
there  should  be  so  many  kinds  of  Lutherans  and  why 
they  should  have  so  little  to  do  with  one  another. 
This  feeling  soon  found  expression  in  the  organiza- 

49 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YORK 


tion  of  societies  of  men  interested  in  the  larger  mis- 
sion of  the  Church. 

In  1883  the  Martin  Luther  Society  was  organized 
by  such  laymen  as  Arnold  J.  D.  "Wedemeyer,  Jacob 
P.  Miller,  John  H.  Tietjen,  Jacob  A.  Geissenhainer, 
George  P.  Ockerhausen,  Charles  A.  Schieren,  John 
H.  Boschen  and  others,  originally  for  the  purpose 
of  preparing  a  suitable  celebration  of  the  Luther 
Quadricentennial.  In  this  effort  they  were  success- 
ful. In  addition  to  their  local  work  in  the  interest 
of  the  celebration  they  secured  the  erection  of  a 
bronze  statue  of  Luther  in  Washington. 

But  the  chief  reason  for  the  organization  of  the 
Society  was  indicated  in  a  letter  sent  to  the  pastors 
and  church  councils  of  the  Lutheran  churches  of 
New  York  and  vicinity  which  read  in  part  as  follows  : 

"In  view  of  the  efforts  made  all  around  us  to  bring 
about  a  closer  and  more  harmonious  relation  between 
the  various  Protestant  denominations,  the  Martin  Luther 
Society  of  the  City  of  New  York  respectfully  begs  you  to 
consider  whether  the  time  has  not  come  to  make  an  ef- 
fort to  bring  about,  if  not  a  union,  at  least  a  better  un- 
derstanding and  more  fraternal  intercourse  between  the 
Lutherans  themselves.  We  all  deplore  the  divisions  that 
separate  us;  we  believe  that  the  reasons  for  these  divi- 
sions are  more  imaginary  than  real,  and  we  are  per- 
suaded that  a  free  and  frank  Interchange  of  opinions 
will  materially  help  to  remove  whatever  obstacles  may 
be  in  the  way. 

"We  surely  recognize  the  fact  that  our  Lutheran 
Church  does  not  command  that  Influence  or  maintain 
that  position  in  this  city  and  vicinity  which  its  history, 
purity  of  doctrine  and  conservative  policy  entitles  it  to; 
and  we  may  be  sure  that  just  so  long  as  our  divisions 
continue,  loss  of  membership  and  prestige,  increasing 
weakness,  and  final  disaster,  will  be  our  lot. 

"Brethren,  in  unity  is  strength.  Earnestly  desiring 
to  do  what  we  can  to  bring  it  about,  we  ask  the  pastors 
of  our  Church  and  their  church  oflBcers  to  take  this  im- 

50 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

poitant  matter  into  consideration,  and  to  take  steps  to 
participate  in  a  meeting  in  this  behalf  which  the  Martin 
Luther  Society  proposes  to  hold  on  Tuesday  evening, 
January  22d,  1889,  in  the  hall  of  the  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine, No.  12  West  31st  Street,  in  this  city." 

The  annual  banquet  of  the  Martin  Luther  Society 
was  an  important  function.  Distinguished  speakers 
lifted  high  the  banner  of  Lutheranism,  and  good 
fellowship  began  to  be  cultivated  among  the  repre- 
o^entatives  of  churches  and  synods  hitherto  unac- 
quainted with  each  other.  Nearly  all  of  its  members 
have  passed  on  and  the  Society  is  only  a  memory 
among  a  few  survivors  of  those  who  shared  its  geni- 
al hospitality  and  recall  the  kindly  fellowship  of  its 
meetings.  The  Martin  Luther  Society  blazed  the 
trail  for  the  wider  path  on  which  we  are  walking 
today,  and  it  deserves  to  be  held  in  honored  re- 
membrance. 

A  few  years  later,  in  1888,  the  younger  men  caught 
the  inspiration  and  established  The  Luther  League. 
The  organization  soon  extended  to  other  parts  of 
the  State  and  subsequently  to  the  entire  country.  It 
has  splendidly  attained  its  objective,  that  of  ralljdng 
and  training  the  young  people  in  the  support  and 
service  of  the  church.  Its  official  organ,  The  Luther 
League  Review,  is  published  in  this  city  under  the 
editorship  of  the  Hon.  Edward  F.  Eilert.  Eleven 
hundred  members  are  enrolled  in  the  local  Leagues 
of  New  York  City. 


The  first  practical  attempt  of  the  ministers  to  get 
together  was  in  the  organization  of  ''Koinonia.'* 
This  took  place  in  the  home  of  the  writer  in  1896. 
The  society  meets  once  a  month  for  the  purpose  of 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


discussing  the  papers  which  each  member  in  his  turn 
is  required  to  read.  Representing  as  it  does  Luth- 
erans of  all  kinds,  species  and  varieties,  it  serves  as 
a  clearing  house  for  the  theological  output  of  the 
members.  It  has  been  helpful  in  removing  some  of 
the  misunderstandings  that  are  liable  to  arise  among 
men  of  positive  convictions. 


On  the  third  Sunday  in  Advent,  1898,  Sister  Emma 
Steen,  of  Richmond,  Indiana,  the  first  Lutheran  dea- 
coness to  engage  in  parish  work  in  New  York,  was 
installed  in  Christ  Church.  She  had  received  her 
preparation  for  this  ministry  in  the  motherhouse  at 
Kaiserswerth  on  the  Rhine,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
six  sisters  to  enter  the  motherhouse  of  the  General 
Synod  in  Baltimore.  After  four  years  of  faithful  ser- 
vice she  was  succeeded  by  Sister  Regena  Bowe  who 
has  now  for  fifteen  years  by  her  devoted  work  illus- 
trated the  value  of  the  female  diaconate  in  the  work 
of  our  churches  in  New  York.  Deaconesses  are  now 
laboring  in  seven  of  our  churches.  They  are  needed 
in  a  hundred  congregations. 

The  revival  of  this  office  is  due  to  the  genius  and 
zeal  of  Pastor  Fliedner  who  established  the  first 
motherhouse  at  Kaiserswerth  on  the  Rhine  in  1833. 
In  America  there  are  eight  motherhouses  with  an 
enrollment  of  378  sisters.* 


♦In  1885  the  author  was  appointed  chairman  of  a  com- 
mittee of  the  General  Synod  to  report  on  the  practicability 
of  establishing  the  office  of  deaconess  in  the  parish  work 
of  our  American  churches.  In  pursuit  of  information  he 
visited  the  principal  Deaconess  Houses  of  Europe.  His  re- 
ports were  published  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Synod  from 
1887  to  1897  and  contributed  to  the  introduction  of  the  office 
Into  the  Synod's  scheme  of  church  work. 

52 


IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


The  years  under  review,  the  closing  period  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  were  years  of  stress  and  storm 
in  our  synodical  relations.  But  the  questions  that 
divided  us  did  not  stop  the  practical  work  of  the 
synods.  Under  the  stimulus  of  a  generous  rivalry 
some  things  were  accomplished  and  foundations  were 
laid  for  still  larger  work  in  the  new  century. 


53 


In  the  Twentieth  Century  ' 

1900-1918 

Our  churches  entered  the  twentieth  century  with 
hope  and  cheer.  With  an  enrollment  of  94  congre- 
gations in  the  greater  city  and  an  advance  patrol 
of  many  more  in  the  Metropolitan  District,  it  had 
become  an  army  of  respectable  size  among  the  forces 
striving  for  the  Christian  uplift  of  our  city. 

What  a  contrast  between  this  picture  and  that  of 
our  church  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury! Then  two  moribund  congregations  were  fee- 
bly holding  the  fort.  One  of  these  soon  surrendered, 
"on  account  of  the  present  embarrassment  of 
finances."  Now  a  compact  army  had  already  been 
assembled,  while  new  races  and  languages  were  be- 
ginning to  reinforce  our  ranks.  Even  the  English 
contingent,  which  had  so  long  maintained  an  un- 
equal fight,  was  securely  entrenched  in  four  bor- 
oughs with  seventeen  congregations  on  its  roll. 

At  this  writing,  in  May,  1918,  we  number  in 
Greater  New  York  160  churches  with  an  enrollment 
of  sixty  thousand  communicant  members.  At  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  1898,  we  had  90 
churches  with  43,691  communicants.  The  rate  of 
increase  in  twenty  years  was  35  per  cent.,  not  very 
large  but  sufficiently  so  to  awaken  favorable  com- 
ment from  Dr.  Laidlaw,  an  expert  observer  of 
church  conditions  in  this  city.    In  1904,  in  an  article 

55 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


in  ''Federation,"  on  ''Oldest  New  York,"  he  wrote 
as  follows: 

"There  are  now  over  fifty  Christian  bodies  in  this 
city,  and  "Oldest  New  York's"  history  shows  the 
fatuity  of  expecting  that  the  heterogeneous  popula- 
tion of  the  present  city  will  all  worship  in  the  same 
way  within  the  lifetime  of  its  youngest  religious 
worker.  Man's  thoughts  have  not  been  God's 
thoughts,  nor  man's  ways  God's  ways,  in  the  ming- 
ling of  races  and  religions  on  this  island.  The  Luth- 
cranism  that  so  sorely  struggled  for  a  foothold  in 
the  early  days  is  now  the  second  Protestant  commu- 
nion in  numbers,  and  its  recent  increment  through- 
out Greater  New  York,  contributed  to  by  German, 
Scandinavian,  Finnish  and  many  English  Lutheran 
churches,  has  exceeded  that  of  any  other  Protestant 
body." 

The  causes  which  contributed  to  our  progress  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  still 
effective.  The  consolidation  of  Greater  New  York, 
bringing  together  into  one  metropolis  the  scattered 
boroughs,  marked  the  advent  of  a  Greater  Luther- 
an Church  in  New  York.  The  bridges  and  the  sub- 
ways, the  telephone  and  the  Catskill  Aqueduct,  pub- 
lic works  of  unprecedented  magnitude,  were  among 
the  material  foundations  of  the  new  growth  of  our 
churches. 

We  were  beginning  to  reap  in  the  second  and  third 
generations  the  fruits  of  the  vast  immigration  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

A  new  era  began  for  the  use  of  the  English  lan- 
guage. There  had  been  a  demand  for  English  serv- 
ices as  early  as  1750,  but  in  the  eighteenth  and  the 

56 


IN  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 


greater  part  of  the  nineteenth  centuries  it  had  not 
been  met.  Fifty  years  ago,  with  its  two  churches, 
and  even  twenty-five  years  ago  with  four  churches, 
English  was  a  forlorn  hope.  The  advance  began  in 
the  last  decade  of  the  19th  century  when  twelve 
English  churches  were  organized.  In  1900  there 
were  seventeeen  English  churches  on  the  roll.  Since 
then  32  have  been  added,  five  in  Bronx,  fifteen  in 
Brooklyn,  eleven  in  Queens,  one  in  Richmond.  Be- 
sides these  forty-nine  churches  in  which  the  English 
language  is  used  exclusively,  almost  all  of  the  so- 
called  foreign  churches  use  English  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  as  the  needs  of  the  people  may  require. 

But  there  was  a  deeper  reason  for  the  growth  of 
oui  church.  Ever  since  the  Luther  Centennial  of 
1883  the  young  people  of  our  churches  had  begun  to 
understand  not  only  the  denominational  significance 
of  their  church  but  also  something  of  its  inner 
characteristics  and  life.  In  various  groups,  in  Man- 
hattan, Bronx  and  Brooklyn,  they  got  together  and 
organized  English  congregations  in  which  an  intelli- 
gent Lutheran  consciousness  prevailed. 

The  Home  Mission  and  Church  Exension  Boards 
of  the  General  Synod  recognized  the  importance  of 
the  moment  in  the  metropolis  of  America  and  gave 
their  effective  aid.  In  Brooklyn  and  Queens  the 
work  received  large  support  from  Charles  A.  Schier- 
en  and  the  Missionary  Society  with  which  he  co-op- 
erated. Sixteen  churches  were  established  through 
the  aid  of  this  Society.  Schieren  was  a  native  of 
Germany  but  he  early  saw  the  importance  of  reach- 
ing the  people  in  the  language  which  they  could  best 
understand.    As  a  citizen  he  was  public  spirited  and 

57 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


progressive.  From  1894  to  1895  he  was  mayor  of 
Brooklyn. 

The  pastors  of  these  incipient  congregations  were 
men  of  vision  who  had  been  attracted  to  the  work  in 
New  York  by  its  difficulty  and  its  opportunity. 
They  came  from  different  seminaries  and  synodical 
associations  and  they  had  to  minister  to  congrega- 
tions in  which  all  varieties  of  the  older  churches 
were  represented.  But  they  soon  learned  to  cooper- 
ate with  one  another  in  measures  looking  to  the 
larger  interests  of  the  entire  field.  Team  work  be- 
came possible.  A  stimulus  was  given  to  the  work 
such  as  had  never  before  been  felt  in  the  Lutheran 
churches  of  New  York. 

A  Ministers'  Association,  to  which  all  Lutheran 
pastors  of  the  Metropolitan  District  are  eligible,  was 
organized  in  1904.  Its  monthly  meetings  brought 
about  a  mutual  understanding  and  fostered  a  frater- 
nal spirit  that  have  been  of  great  value  in  the  pro- 
motion of  the  general  work  of  the  church. 

The  synod  of  New  York  and  New  England,  com- 
posed of  the  English  churches  of  the  Now  York  Min- 
isterium  was  organized  in  1902.  It  found  its  special 
mission  in  planting  and  rearing  English  missions  in 
the  new  sections  of  the  greater  city.  It  has  added 
nine  English  churches  to  the  roll. 

The  Synod  of  New  York,  a  merger  of  the  New 
York  and  New  Jersey,  the  Hartwick  and  the 
Franckean  synods  also  devoted  itself  to  the  special 
task  of  caring  for  the  English  speaking  young  peo- 
ple. Under  its  auspices  thirteen  new  churches  have 
been  organized.     To  the  indefatigable  labors  of  its 

58 


IN  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 


Superintendent  of  Missions,  Dr.  Carl  Zinssmeister, 
much  credit  is  due  for  the  success  of  the  work. 

The  Synod  of  Missouri,  although  largely  a  Ger- 
man body,  rivals  the  other  synods  in  its  fostering 
care  of  the  English  work.  At  least  thirteen  English 
congregations  in  this  city  have  been  organized  by 
** Missouri''  since  the  beginning  of  this  century. 

The  relation  of  the  various  boroughs  to  the 
growth  of  the  church  may  be  seen  from  the  follow- 
ing figures  in  which  the  number  of  communicants 
in  1918  is  compared  with  that  of  1898. 

Boroughs  1898  1918  Increase 

Manhattan    21,611  15,928  5,683* 

Bronx 2,048             5,932  3,884 

Brooklyn    17,405  28,270  10,865 

Queens 1,671             7,139  5,468 

Richmond    956             1,948  992 

43,691  59,217        15,526 

The  starred  figures  for  Manhattan  call  attention 
to  the  change  of  population  that  has  taken  place  in 
New  York,  particularly  as  it  affects  Manhattan. 
While  the  total  increase  of  population  in  New  York 
from  1910  to  1915  was  667,928  there  was  a  decrease 
in  Manhattan  of  193,795. 

This  decrease  in  numbers,  and  still  more  the  sub- 
stitution of  Catholic  and  Jewish  peoples  to  an  un- 
precedented extent  for  those  of  Protestant  antece- 
dents, produced  a  marked  change  in  the  membership 
of  Protestant  churches.  The  decline  in  Protestant 
membership  in  Manhattan  from  1900  to  1910,  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Laidlaw,  amounted  to  74,012. 

It  is  not  surprising  therefore  that  the  Lutheran 
churches  were  called  upon  to  bear  their  share  of  the 

♦Decrease. 

59 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


loss.  As  we  have  seen,  it  amounted  in  two  decades  to 
5,623.  Most  of  this  deficit,  4,042,  is  chargeable  to  the 
churches  south  of  Fourteenth  Street,  where  Protes- 
tants of  all  denominations  fail  to  hold  their  own. 
The  balance,  1,837,  came  from  other  churches  south 
of  Forty-second  Street. 

Three  churches  were  added  during  the  past 
twenty  years.  Our  Saviour  (English)  in  1898,  Holy 
Trinity  (Slovak)  in  1904  and  a  mission  of  the  Mis- 
souri Synod  in  1916  in  the  Spuyten  Duyvil  neighbor- 
hood, the  most  northern  point  thus  far  occupied  by 
us  on  Manhattan. 

For  three  churches  gained  there  is  an  offset  of 
four  churches  lost:  Bethlehem  in  East  Sixty-fifth 
Street,  Christ  Church  in  West  Fiftieth  Street,  Im- 
manuel  in  East  Eighty-third  Street  and  the  Danish 
church  in  Yorkville.  The  Danish  church  removed 
to  Bronx  while  the  others  effected  mergers  with 
sister  congregations. 

The  present  indications  are  that  we  have  come 
to  a  standstill  on  Manhattan  Island  and  that  it  is 
no  longer  a  question  of  how  many  churches  we  shall 
build,  but  how  many  we  shall  lose. 

Our  assets  at  present  may  be  described  as  follows : 
We  have  thirty  congregations,  twenty-six  of  them 
o\\Tiing  their  houses  of  worship.  The  net  value  of 
their  property,  deducting  debts,  is  $3,160,000.  The 
average  value  of  each  church  is  $100,000.  Besides 
the  thirty  organized  congregations  there  are  seven 
missions  in  which  services  are  maintained  in  the  fol- 
lowing languages:  Finnish,  Lettish,  Esthonian,  Pol- 
ish, Italian  and  Yiddish. 

The  number  of  communicants  is  15,978.    The  num- 

60 


IN  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 


ber  of  pupils  in  the  Sunday  Schools  is  7,245.  The 
number  of  children  in  eight  parochial  schools  is  669. 
The  number  attending  instruction  in  religion  on 
weekdays,  including  catechumens,  is  1,580. 

But  although  our  churches  in  Manhattan  are  de- 
clining in  numbers  while  those  of  the  other  boroughs 
are  growing,  Manhattan  still  holds  the  key  to  the 
city.  For  generations  it  will  be  the  community  in 
which  the  most  serious  problems  of  church  and  so- 
ciety will  have  to  be  studied  and  solved.  Manhattan 
has  strategical  value  not  merely  for  Greater  New 
York  but  for  every  city  in  the  land  where  similar 
problems  must  be  solved.  If  our  churches  run  away 
from  such  a  field,  we  shall  never  gain  a  victory  else- 
where. If  we  win  here,  we  shall  be  entitled  to  a 
place  in  the  legion  of  honor. 


Four  higher  schools  connected  with  the  churches 
of  New  York  have  endeared  themselves  to  the  hearts 
of  their  friends  and  are  giving  promise  of  growing 
usefulness. 

Concordia  College  originated  in  St.  Matthew's 
Academy,  in  1881.  After  years  of  struggle  and  sac- 
rifice it  was  moved  to  Bronxville  in  1908,  where  it 
occupies  a  valuable  property.     It  has  110  students. 

Wagner  College  was  called  into  being  in  1883 
in  Rochester.  It  belongs  to  the  New  York  Min- 
isterium.  Numerous  pastors  in  this  city  are  alumni 
of  Wagner  College.  In  1916  it  was  decided  to  move 
the  college  to  New  York.  A  splendid  property  of 
38  acres  was  purchased  on  Grymes  Hill  near  Staple- 
ton,  Staten  Island,  and  in  the  Fall  of  1918  it  wiU 

61 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 

take  up  its  work  within  the  precincts  of  Greater 
New  York. 

Upsala  College  began  as  an  academy  in  Brooklyn 
in  1893.  It  belongs  to  the  Swedish  Augustana  Sy- 
nod. It  was  moved  to  Kenilworth,  N.  J.,  in  1898, 
and  became  a  college  in  1904.  Within  ten  years  it 
has  contributed  more  than  forty  pastors,  mission- 
aries and  teachers  to  the  work  of  the  church. 

Hartwick  Seminary  is  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
Susquehanna  in  Otsego  County.  It  is  a  product  of 
the  eighteenth  century  and  not  of  the  twentieth.  But 
since  Johann  Christopher  Kunze,  pastor  of  the  Old 
Swamp  Church,  was  one  of  its  founders,  and  since 
it  still  contributes  pastors  to  the  work  of  the  church- 
es in  New  York,  in  spite  of  its  distance  from  the 
city  it  must  not  be  overlooked  in  our  mention  of 
the  schools  of  New  York. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  Inner  Mission  Society 
Pastor  Buermeyer  has  developed  a  much-needed 
work  among  our  brothers  and  sisters  who  in  their 
old  age  or  by  reason  of  sickness,  loneliness  or  pov- 
erty are  not  reached  by  the  ordinary  ministrations 
of  the  congregation.  It  is  known  as  the  City  Mis- 
sion and  it  will  doubtless  receive  the  continued  sup- 
port of  all  who  read  carefully  the  25th  chapter  of 
St.  Matthew. 

The  Hospice  for  Young  Men  is  another  form  of 
Inner  Mission  work  in  which  a  good  beginning  has 
been  made. 

The  Lutheran  Society  was  organized  in  1914.  **Its 
object  is  to  promote  the  general  interests  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  by  encouraging  a  friendly  inter- 
course among  its  members."      At  this  writing,  in 

62 


IN  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 


1918,  it  numbers  over  four  hundred  members.  By 
bringing  together  in  friendly  intercourse  active 
churchmen  of  otherwise  widely  separately  congre- 
gations and  synods  it  has  contributed  materially  to 
a  better  understanding  of  the  aims  and  the  tasks  of 
our  entire  communion. 

Under  its  auspices  the  quadricentennial  anniver- 
sary of  the  Reformation  was  celebrated  in  this  city 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  occasion.  The  executive 
secretary  of  the  committee,  Pastor  O.  H.  Pannkoke, 
reports  as  follows  on  the  general  results  of  the  cele- 
bration : 

"Two  facts  are  of  considerable  interest,  such  as  to 
class  them  as  worthy  of  recording  as  a  permanent  ac- 
complishment. In  the  first  place  we  have  had  the  co- 
operation in  this  undertaking  of  every  Lutheran  synod 
represented  in  New  York,  and  I  believe  we  have  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  through  the  undertaking  without  vio- 
lating the  confidence  placed  in  us  by  any  section  of  the 
Lutheran  Church. 

"In  the  second  place,  our  Committee  has  injected  into 
the  general  Reformation  influence  the  question  of  the 
wider  influence  of  the  Reformation.  Practically  every 
section  of  the  country  has  taken  up  the  discussion  of  the 
religious  influence  of  the  Reformation,  also  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Reformation  on  every  side  of  life." 

On  the  roll  of  Former  Pastors,  in  the  Appendix, 
are  recorded  the  names  of  men  who  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  present  congregations.  Their  labors 
and  their  sacrifices  entitle  them  to  a  place  in  a  book 
of  remembrance.  Some  names  are  missing.  We  tried 
hard  to  obtain  them.  For  these  lacunae  we  offer  our 
apologies  to  the  historians  of  the  next  centennial. 
In  1918  we  were  still  struggling  with  the  problem 
of  statistics. 

Nowhere  are  ministers  forgotten  so  soon  as  here 

63 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


in  New  York.  The  congregations  themselves  are 
rapidly  engulphed  in  the  ceaseless  tides  of  human- 
ity that  sweep  over  the  island.  Now  and  then  some 
beloved  pastor  is  remembered  by  some  faithful 
friends,  but  in  a  few  years  the  very  names  of  the 
men  who  built  the  churches  are  forgotten.  Like  the 
knights  of  old : 

"Their  swords  are  rust, 
Their  steeds  are  dust, 
Their  souls  are  with  the  saints  we  trust." 

Before  ending  the  story  of  which  a  faint  outline 
has  here  been  given,  we  recall  with  affection  and 
reverence  some  of  the  men  whose  outstanding  per- 
sonality has  not  yet  faded  from  our  memory.  Theii 
labors  prepared  the  ground  for  the  harvests  which 
a  younger  generation  is  now  permitted  to  reap. 

Stohlmann  was  the  connecting  link  with  the  earli- 
er periods.  He  was  an  able  preacher,  a  warm  heart- 
ed pastor  and  a  conscientious  man. 

Geissenhainer,  the  pastor  of  St.  Paul's,  which  he 
organized  in  1841  after  having  been  an  assistant  of 
his  father  in  St.  Matthew's  since  1826,  was  another 
connecting  link  with  the  past. 

Held  of  St.  John's  was  a  pupil  of  Claus  Harms. 
His  eloquent  sermons  attracted  great  congregations 
to  Christopher  Street. 

After  fourteen  fruitful  years  in  St.  James'  Church, 
Wedekind  was  called  to  Christopher  Street  in  No- 
vember, 1878,  to  succeed  Pastor  Held.  Here  he  la- 
bored for  twelve  years,  edifying  the  church  and  in- 
spiring St.  John's  to  bcome  one  of  our  most  efficient 
congregations.  Under  his  direction  at  least  four 
young  men  of  the  congregation  were  led  into  the 
ministry.    He  died  April  8,  1897. 

64 


AUGUSTUS  CHARLES  W  EDEKIND.  D.D. 


IN  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 


Under  a  quiet  exterior  Krotel  concealed  a  force- 
ful personality.  He  was  a  born  leader  and  took  a 
large  part  in  the  development  of  the  General  Coun- 
cil. As  editor  of  the  Lutherischer  Herold  for  three 
years  and  of  The  Lutheran  for  many  years  his  writ- 
ings had  a  wide  influence.  From  1868  to  1895  he 
was  pastor  of  Holy  Trinity  Church.  In  1896,  in  the 
71st  year  of  his  age,  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  newly 
organized  Church  of  the  Advent,  which  he  served 
until  his  death  on  May  17th,  1907.  Under  the  pen 
name  of  Insulanus  he  delighted  the  readers  of  The 
Lutheran  for  forty  years  with  his  reflections  on 
men  and  things  in  New  York.  Among  his  published 
works  are  a  Life  of  Melanchthon,  Meditations  on  the 
Beatitudes  and  Explanations  of  Luther's  Catechism. 

Julius  Ehrhardt  was  an  unassuming,  lovable  and 
scholarly  Suabian.  He  laid  the  foundations  of  St. 
Paul's  in  Harlem,  when  the  little  wooden  church 
stood  among  the  truck  gardens.    He  died  in  1899. 

Moldenke  was  a  descendant  of  Salzburg  exiles 
who  settled  in  East  Prussia  in  1731.  He  came  to  us 
from  Wisconsin,  organized  Zion  Church  which  was 
subsequently  merged  with  St.  Peter's  after  he 
had  accepted  a  call  to  succeed  Hennicke  in  that 
church.  He  was  an  able  preacher  and  a  scholarly 
writer.  Under  his  leadership  St.  Peter's  became  a 
strong  congregation.  In  1872  he  contributed  a  se- 
ries of  articles  on  Die  Lutheraner  des  Ostens  to  Der 
Pilger  of  Reading.  A  reprint  of  these  articles  in 
book  form  would  be  a  valuable  contribution  to  the 
story  of  the  Lutherans  of  New  York  and  a  fitting 
memorial  of  a  minister  of  mark  and  influence. 

Johann  Heinrich  Sicker  was  born  in  Schweinfurth, 

65 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Bavaria,  October  23d,  1839.  He  received  his  theo- 
logical education  at  Gettysburg.  His  early  ministry 
was  in  connection  with  the  Wisconsin  Synod.  In 
1876,  when  Ruperti  resigned  at  St.  Matthew's,  Sicker 
was  called  from  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  to  become  his 
successor.  For  28  years  he  was  the  pastor  of  St. 
Matthew's  and  a  leading  minister  of  the  Missouri 
Synod.  In  sj^nodical  matters  he  was  an  uncompro- 
mising defender  of  the  faith  as  he  understood  it. 
He  left  the  record  of  a  singularly  devoted  and  suc- 
cessful ministry.  At  least  thirty  young  men  were 
led  into  the  ministry  under  his  influence.  Roesner's 
''Ehrendenkmal,"  a  sketch  of  his  life  and  character, 
ought  to  be  read  by  every  Lutheran  minister  in  this 
citj^    He  died  in  1904. 

John  Jacob  Young  was  a  native  of  the  Rhenish 
Palatinate,  born  at  Langenkandel,  September  13th, 
1846.  He  came  to  America  in  his  boyhood.  He 
served  in  the  Union  army  during  the  Civil  War. 
When  the  war  was  over  he  studied  for  the  ministry 
at  Gettysburg.  He  served  a  number  of  congrega- 
tions in  Maryland  and  Indiana  till  1893,  when  he 
was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  St.  John's  in  Chris- 
topher Street.  Here  for  21  years  he  faithfully  fol- 
lowed his  calling  as  a  shepherd  of  souls. 

Charles  Armand  Miller  came  to  us  from  the  South. 
He  was  born  in  Sheperdstown,  West  Virginia,  March 
7,  1864.  He  was  educated  at  Roanoke  College  and 
after  his  ordination  he  was  for  a  time  pastor  of  the 
College  Church.  He  succeeded  Dr.  Krotel  in  Holy 
Trinity  Church  in  1896  and  gave  twelve  years  of 
devoted  and  successful  service  to  this  congregation. 
His  subsequent  fields  of  labor  were  in  Charleston, 

66 


PASTOR  J.  H.  SIEKER 


IN  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 


South  Carolina,  and  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  a 
scholarly  writer,  an  able  preacher,  a  sympathetic 
pastor  and  a  loyal  friend.  Among  his  published 
writings  were  The  Perfect  Prayer,  The  Sacramental 
Feast,  The  Way  to  the  Cross  and  a  volume  of  poems 
entitled  Ad  Astra. 

He  died  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  September  9th, 
1917.  Who  that  knew  him  will  ever  forget  the  geni- 
al spirit  of  Charles  Armand  Miller? 

It  would  be  a  congenial  task  to  give  a  fuller  ac- 
count of  these  men  and  of  Ruperti,  Vorberg,  Raeg- 
ener,  Hennicke,  Waetter,  Foehlinger,  Koenig,  Half- 
mann,  Frey,  Weissel,  Beyer  and  others  whose  names 
and  lives  a  few  of  the  older  preachers  will  recall. 
Perhaps  some  who  read  this  book  will  accept  the 
suggestion  and  write  accounts  of  these  pioneer 
Avorkmen.  What  a  Ministers '  Association  they  would 
have  formed  if  we  could  have  gotten  them  together 
into  a  conference  to  discuss  the  terms  of  agreement. 
But  that  was  impossible  thirty  years  ago. 

A  singularly  interesting  career  came  to  a  close 
just  as  I  was  concluding  these  memorial  paragraphs. 
Dr.  Charles  E.  Weltner  died  in  Brunswick,  Georgia, 
December  22d,  1917. 

He  was  born  in  Wilhelmshoehe,  January  28th, 
1860,  where  his  father  commanded  a  company  of 
soldiers  in  the  royal  castle.  In  his  early  youth  he 
was  sent  to  New  Yor.k  to  meet  a  relative  whom  he 
never  found.  One  Sunday  morning,  homeless  and 
friendless,  he  accosted  me  after  service  at  the  door 
of  the  ckurch.  I  offered  him  employment  in  mv  of- 
fice and  for  several  years  he  was  an  efficient  helper 
in  the  educational  and  mission  work  of  my  parish. 

67 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Although  he  was  already  suffering  from  defective 
eyesight,  which  not  long  afterward  resulted  in  total 
blindness,  he  expressed  an  ardent  desire  to  enter  the 
ministry.  Under  the  circumstances  this  seemed  to 
be  impossible,  but  his  earnest  pleas  overcame  every 
objection.  In  1884  he  entered  Hartwick  Seminary 
where  he  was  graduated  with  honor  in  1888.  Un- 
able himself  to  read  the  text  books,  his  friends  read 
them  for  him.  Especially  helpful  to  him  in  his  stud- 
ies were  Professor  Hiller  and  his  wife,  the  daughter 
of  the  sainted  Dr.  George  B.  Miller. 

Upon  the  completion  of  his  course  in  1888  he  was 
ordained  to  the  Gospel  ministry  and  for  the  next 
four  years  rendered  faithful  service  as  the  assistant 
of  his  pastor  in  Christ  Church.  Few  that  heard  him 
would  have  suspected  his  blindness.  His  remark- 
able memory  enabled  him  in  conducting  the  Service 
to  use  the  Bible  and  the  Liturgy  as  though  he  could 
see.  In  the  library  he  could  go  to  the  shelves  and 
place  his  hands  upon  the  books  that  he  needed.  His 
reader  then  supplied  him  with  the  material  needed 
for  study. 

In  1893  he  took  temporary  charge  of  St.  John's 
Church  in  Christopher  Street. 

In  the  Fall  of  1893  he  accepted  a  call  to  St.  Mat- 
thew's Church  in  Augusta,  Georgia.  His  retirement 
in  1896  to  take  charge  of  a  mission  among  the  cot- 
ton mill  operatives  of  Columbia,  S.  C,  was  deeply 
regretted  not  only  by  his  congregation  but  by  the 
entire  city. 

Thus  far  his  ministry,  however  useful  it  had  been, 
was  only  a  preparation  for  the  remarkable  work  he 
was  called  upon  to  do  in  South  Carolina  and  adjoin- 

68 


CHARLES  E.  WELTNER.  D.  D. 


IN  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 


ing  states.  The  mountain  whites  who  had  been 
drawn  into  the  cotton  mill  work  of  the  South  were 
illiterate  and  but  ill  prepared  for  their  new  condi- 
tions. 

With  the  help  of  his  devoted  wife,  a  night  school 
was  established.  Additional  schools  became  neces- 
sary. The  Columbia  Board  of  Education  became  in- 
terested and  supplied  the  teachers  while  the  mill 
company  provided  for  the  equipment.  Mrs.  Weltner 
helped  the  girls  by  creating  an  interest  in  good 
housekeeping  and  in  beautifying  the  homes  and 
their  surroundings. 

The  movement  extended  to  other  parts  of  the  state 
and  into  adjoining  states,  and  Dr.  Weltner  was 
called  upon  to  explain  and  direct  it.  The  blind  man 
had  seen  a  vision.  The  homeless  youth  of  New  York's 
East  Side  became  the  prophet  of  a  new  era  who 
turned  many  to  righteousness.  His  eyes  now  see  the 
King  in  His  beauty. 


THEIR  PROBLEMS 


The  Problem  of  Synods 

A  synod  is  an  assembly  of  delegates  organized  for 
the  purpose  of  administering  the  affairs  of  the 
churches  they  represent. 

Fourteen  synods  are  represented  in  Greater  New 
York.  Some  are  based  on  differences  of  doctrine. 
A  volume  published  in  1893,  entitled  "Distinctive 
Doctrines  and  Usages"  (See  Bibliography),  treats 
of  these  differences.  Others  are  due  to  differences 
of  language  and  race. 

In  some  countries  a  hyperchurchly  trend  of  the 
national  or  state  church  is  responsible  for  dissenting 
movements  which,  left  to  themselves,  finally  take  the 
form  of  separatistic  churches.  Although  these  move- 
ments temporarily  persist  in  America  there  is  no 
permanent  need  for  them  in  our  atmosphere  of  free- 
dom. Our  church  has  room  for  many  men  of  many 
minds  so  long  as  the  essentials  of  belief  are  held  and 
respected. 

Finns  are  represented  in  three  synods,  Scandina- 
vians in  four.  These  nations  therefore  account  for 
one-half  of  our  fourteen  synods.  The  history  of 
the  Missouri  Sjmod  is  one  of  struggle,  sacrifice 
and  remarkable  growth.  For  seventy-five  years 
other  Lutherans  have  sought  fellowship  with  them, 
but  they  decline  to  hold  fellowship  with  churches 
that  are  not  in  full  accord  with  their  doctrinal 
position. 

73 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Each  of  these  divisions  has  some  historical  reason 
for  its  existence  which  cannot  be  ignored  or  lightly 
pushed  aside.  For  various  reasons  each  sjTiod  em- 
phasizes some  phase  of  church  life  which  in  its  opin- 
ion warrants  a  separate  organization.  Perhaps  some 
of  the  progress  of  the  last  half  century  may  be  cred- 
ited to  a  wholesome  rivalry  between  these  various 
schools  of  Lutheranism. 

On  the  other  hand  these  synodical  divisions  among 
churches  holding  the  same  substance  of  doctrine, 
even  when  they  do  not  provoke  downright  hostility, 
are  an  effective  bar  to  the  fraternal  alliance  so  great- 
ly needed  in  our  polyglot  communion.  Our  neigh- 
bors, too,  of  other  Denominations,  when  they  try  to 
understand  our  meticulous  divisions,  are  not  unnat- 
urally disposed  to  look  upon  us  as  a  conglomerate 
of  sectarian  religionists  rather  than  as  a  Church  or 
even  as  a  distinct  Denomination.  In  lists  of  denom- 
inational activities  our  churches  figure  as  G.  C.  Luth- 
erans, Gr.  S.  Lutherans,  Missouri  Lutherans,  etc., 
while  all  of  us  are  frequently  called  upon  to  explain 
whether  we  belong  to  the  Evangelical  branch  of  the 
Lutherans  or  not. 

Absorbed  as  we  are  in  the  local  interests  of  our 
individual  congregations  and  in  the  questions  that 
divide  us  among  ourselves,  we  seldom  have  an  op- 
portunity to  give  expression  to  outstanding  princi- 
ples of  our  church  in  such  a  way  as  to  impress  the 
public  mind  with  a  sense  of  their  importance. 

The  question  therefore  continually  recurs,  why 
should  these  divisions  be  perpetuated  among  breth- 
ren who  are  agreed  on  the  essentials  of  Lutheran 
teaching  even  though  they  may  not  have  completely 

74 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  SYNODS 


assimilated  each  other's  minute  definitions  of  theo- 
logical dogmas.  Laymen,  more  interested  in  prac- 
tical results,  find  it  hard  to  understand  why  there 
should  be  so  many  different  kinds  of  Lutherans. 
Even  ministers,  accustomed  as  they  are  to  sharp  dis- 
tinctions, sometimes  deplore  these  divisions  and  won- 
der when  they  can  be  healed.  They  long  for  the 
time  when  the  adherents  of  the  Augsburg  Confes- 
sion may  unite  in  one  great  body,  "beautiful  as  Tir- 
zah,  comely  as  Jerusalem,  terrible  as  an  army  with 
banners." 

Alluring  as  such  a  prospect  may  seem,  it  is  not  of 
highest  importance  in  a  communion  which  from  the 
beginning  emphasized  the  right  of  private  judgment 
and  acquired  for  the  world  the  right  to  think  for 
itself  in  matters  of  conscience  and  religion.  The 
Church  of  the  Reformation  derives  its  strength  from 
unity  rather  than  from  union.  Theoretically  at 
least,  it  is  a  communion,  a  fellowship  of  believers. 
Its  earliest  designation  was  not  ''The  Lutheran 
Church,"  but  ''Churches  of  the  Augsburg  Confes- 
sion." 

It  is  consonant  therefore  with  our  historic  prin- 
ciples to  respect  the  gifts  and  calling  of  the  existing 
divisions  in  our  churches  without  insisting  upon  an 
artificial  union  which  could  contribute  little  to  the 
true  unity  of  the  church.  There  are  "many  mem- 
bers, yet  but  one  body. ..  .There  are  differences  of 
administrations,  but  the  same  Lord."  In  our  mutual 
relations  therefore  it  behooves  us  to  recognize  the 
rights  of  the  individual. 

This,  however,  need  not  prevent  our  working  and 
praying  for  union.     If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as 

75 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


lieth  in  us  (unless  this  involves  synergistic  heresy), 
let  us  cultivate  tolerance  and  live  peaceably  with  all 
men,  especially  with  all  Lutherans. 

We  have  in  this  city  a  great  field  in  which  there 
is  work  for  us  all.  In  friendly  co-operation,  rather 
than  in  hostile  competition,  w^e  may  escape  some  of 
the  perils  of  our  past  history  and  perform  with  cred- 
it the  tasks  with  which  at  present  we  seem  to  be 
struggling  in  vain. 

The  Metropolitan  District  includes  the  urban  com- 
munities within  ten  miles  of  the  boundary  line  of 
Greater  New  York.  This  territory  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  square  miles  now  holds  a  population  of  over 
seven  millions  of  people.  Our  churches  in  Greater 
New  York  minister  to  a  baptized  membership  of 
141,642  souls.  If  we  include  in  our  estimates  of 
parochial  responsibility,  not  merely  enrolled  mem- 
bers, but  the  entire  Lutheran  population  of  the  Dis- 
trict, Russians,  Poles,  Slovaks,  Bohemians,  Hungari- 
ans, Letts,  Esthonians,  Lithuanians,  Dutch,  Germans, 
Swedes,  Norwegians,  Finns  and  Danes,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  multitudes  of  American  birth  from  the 
Hudson  and  Mohawk  valleys,  from  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia,  Ohio  and  the  West,  the  number  of  people 
claiming  to  be  Lutherans  amounts  to  more  than  five 
hundred  thousand  souls. 

To  minister  as  we  should  to  such  a  constituency, 
we  need  co-operation  in  place  of  competition.  The 
work  of  cultivating  effectively  such  a  field  can  never 
be  done  by  churches  so  hopelessly  divided  as  ours. 

Other  churches,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  with  a 
centralized  ecclesiastical  organization,  are  able  to 
work  together  as  one  body  and  make  plans  for  their 


70 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  SYNODS 


work  covering  the  entire  Metropolitan  District.  We, 
with  our  strong  individualism,  cannot  vie  with  them. 
In  our  polity  we  are  extreme  congregationalists  and 
must  pay  for  our  freedom. 

But  there  is  much  that  our  churches  have  in  com- 
mon. Our  flocks  are  not  alienated  from  each  other 
as  much  as  are  the  shepherds.  The  formation  of  local 
groups  throughout  the  greater  city,  co-operating  in 
common  causes,  or  at  least  refraining  from  a  polem- 
ical policy,  would  pave  the  way  for  a  better  under- 
standing of  our  mutual  needs  and  opportunities  for 
service. 

Three  things,  at  least,  might  be  done  without  com- 
promising the  faith  or  violating  the  spirit  of  our 
church  life : 

1.  We  might  meet  for  the  purpose  of  forming  each 
other's  acquaintance  and  for  the  discussion  of  prac- 
tical questions.  Perhaps  none  of  us  is  quite  so  heret- 
ical as  the  synodical  divergence  would  lead  a  layman 
to  suppose. 

2.  We  might  meet  for  the  discussion  of  vital  ques- 
tions of  religion  and  morals.  It  is  one  thing  to  read 
about  these  things  in  books.  It  is  quite  another 
thing  to  listen  to  a  spoken  presentation  warm  with 
the  sympathy  of  a  living  experience. 

3.  We  might  recognize  each  other's  spheres  of  in- 
fluence and  federate  our  forces  in  meeting  the  needs 
of  our  vast  community. 

In  the  meantime  we  are  slowly  learning  that  the 
aspirations  and  convictions  that  unite  us  are  greater 
than  the  things  that  separate  us.  The  clearer  com- 
prehension of  the  principles  we  hold  and  of  the  work 
we  have  to  do,  and  the  sense  of  our  respo'nsibility 

77 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


as  one  of  the  larger  eoimnunions  of  the  metropolis, 
compel  us  more  and  more  to  emphasize  not  the  un- 
essential details  of  our  theological  system  but  rather 
the  larger  truths  and  principles  for  which  we  stand 
and  which  we  hold  in  common. 

A  hundred  years  ago,  on  the  tercentenary  of  the 
Reformation,  after  a  period  of  political  humiliation 
and  economic  distress  in  the  Fatherland,  the  Ninety- 
five  Theses  of  Claus  Harms  sounded  a  call  for  a 
Lutheran  awakening  throughout  the  world.  The  re- 
sult of  that  revival  is  felt  in  the  churches  to  this  day. 

The  quadricentenary  of  the  Reformation  was  cele- 
brated amid  the  convulsions  of  a  World  War.  Is  it 
too  much  to  hope  that  after  this  war  also  the  ground 
may  be  prepared  for  a  spiritual  sowing  and  reaping 
w^hen  the  unnecessary  dissensions  of  sectarian  con- 
troversy will  give  place  to  fraternal  co-operation  in 
the  service  of  a  common  Lord  and  in  the  promotion 
of  a  common  faith?* 


•Since  the  foregoing  paragraphs  were  written  an  unex- 
pected change  in  the  outlook  has  taken  place.  Steps  were 
taken  a  year  ago  toward  bringing  together  three  of  the 
general  bodies  of  the  Church  in  America.  Should  this  hope 
be  realized,  it  will  bring  into  closer  union  a  majority  of  the 
churches    of    Greater   New    York. 

On  May  7th,  1918,  at  a  meeting  of  nearly  one  hundred 
Lutheran  pastors,  members  of  nearly  all  of  the  synods  rep- 
resented on  this  territory,  there  was  organized  a  "Confer- 
ence of  the  Lutheran  pastors  of  the  Metropolitan  District 
for  the  discussion  of  all  questions  of  doctrine  and  practice 
to  the  end  of  effecting  unity."  This,  too,  is  a  harbinger  of 
an  approaching  era  of  reconstruction  and  peace. 

78 


The  Problem  of  Language 

It  was  a  Lutheran  demand  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  vernacular.  It 
would  be  un-Lutheran  in  the  twentieth  century  to 
conduct  public  worship  in  a  language  which  the  peo- 
ple do  not  understand. 

This  lesson  is  written  so  plainly  in  the  history  of 
our  churches  in  America  that  "he  may  run  that 
readeth."  The  Swedish  churches  on  the  Delaware, 
planted  by  Gustavus  Adolphus  for  the  very  purpose 
of  propagating  the  faith  in  America,  were  all  of 
them  lost  to  the  Lutheran  church  because  the  per- 
sistent use  of  the  Swedish  language,  and  the  inabil- 
ity of  the  pastors  to  preach  in  English,  proved  an 
insuperable  obstacle  to  the  bringing  up  of  the  chil- 
dren in  the  Lutheran  communion.  When  the  New 
York  Ministerium  at  its  meeting  in  Rhinebeck,  Sep- 
tember 1st,  1797,  resolved  that  it  would  **  never 
acknowledge  a  newly-erected  Lutheran  Church 
merely  English  in  places  where  the  members  may 
partake  of  the  services  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  it 
halted  for  a  century  the  growth  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  New  York. 

The  same  experience  greets  us  in  London.  There 
the  Lutheran  Church  was  established  in  1669,  only 
five  years  later  than  in  New  York.  For  more  than 
two  centuries  it  had  the  recognition  of  royalty.  As 
late  as  the  Victorian  era  Prince  Albert,  the  Queen 

79 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


and  the  royal  family,  in  their  personal  relations, 
were  connected  with  the  Lutheran  Church.  To  this 
day  Queen  Alexandra  is  a  communicant  in  the  Luth- 
eran church.  There  exist  therefore  no  social  bar- 
riers to  its  growth.  Yet  not  a  single  English  Luth- 
eran church  is  to  be  found  in  London. 

With  one  exception  the  dozen  Lutheran  churches 
of  other  tongues  recognize  no  responsibility  to  prop- 
agate the  faith  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  in  the 
language  of  the  city  in  which  they  live.  The  ex- 
ception is  that  of  the  German  *' Missouri"  congre- 
gation. Here  English  as  well  as  German  is  used  in 
the  services.  Here  alone  it  would  seem  that  ''reli- 
gion is  the  chief  concern." 

The  language  problem  confronted  us  early  in  our 
local  history.  In  the  first  hundred  years  three  lan- 
guages, Dutch,  German  and  English,  contended  for 
the  mastery.  In  their  pastoral  work  some  ministers 
used  all  three. 

Dutch  was  the  first  to  surrender.  The  children  of 
Dutch  families  adopted  the  language  of  their  Eng- 
lish conquerors,  and  when  immigration  from  Holland 
ceased,  the  use  of  Dutch  in  worship  became  obso- 
lete. The  last  use  of  Dutch  at  a  Lutheran  service 
was  at  the  communion  on  the  First  Sunday  in  Ad- 
vent in  1771.    It  had  maintained  itself  for  114  years. 

After  the  use  of  Dutch  in  worship  had  ceased, 
German  and  English  came  into  collision.  It  was  a 
fight  to  a  finish.  When  it  was  over  there  was  little 
left  for  which  to  contend.  When  Pastor  Kunze  died, 
in  1807,  the  congregation  had  declined  almost  to  the 
point  of  extinction.  Many  of  the  English-speaking 
families  had  left  us  and  we  thus  lost  some  of  our 


80 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  LANGUAGE 


leading  members,  people  whose  ancestors  had  for 
five  generations  belonged  to  our  communion.  The 
Germans  remained,  but  during  the  lull  in  the  tide 
of  immigration  the  use  of  German  declined  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  imperil  the  existence  even  of  the 
German  congregation.  When  Kunze's  successor  ar- 
rived he  had  difficulty  in  finding  members  of  the 
church  who  could  speak  German.  Even  in  the  Ger- 
man congregation  English  had  become  the  language 
of  every-day  life. 

German  thrives  in  German  soil.  Elsewhere  it  is 
an  exotic  not  easily  cultivated.  From  their  earliest 
history  Germans  have  had  the  Wanderlust  and  have 
sought  for  new  homes  as  it  pleased  them.  But  wher- 
ever they  go  they  amalgamate  with  their  surround- 
ings. 

The  Franks  settled  in  Gaul,  but,  excepting  its  Ger- 
man name,  the  language  retains  but  few  indications 
of  the  German  ancestry  of  a  large  part  of  the  French 
people. 

The  Goths  settled  in  Spain.  Physical  traits,  blue 
eyes  and  blonde  complexion,  persist  in  some  dis- 
tricts, but  their  descendants  speak  Spanish. 

The  Longobards  crossed  the  Alps  and  settled  in 
Italy  where  their  children  speak  Italian,  although 
Lombardy  is  just  across  the  mountains,  not  far  from 
the  early  home  of  their  immigrant  ancestors. 

A  notable  exception  to  this  tendency  of  the  Ger- 
mans to  amalgamate  with  other  nations  was  when 
the  Anglo-Saxons  invaded  Britain.  The  island  had 
been  deserted  by  the  Romans,  and  the  Germans  re- 
fused for  centuries  to  ally  themselves  with  the  Brit- 
ish inhabitants.    They  retained  their  own  language 


81 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


and  customs  with  but  a  slight  admixture  of  alien 
elements.*  To  this  day  after  twelve  centuries  they 
prefer  to  call  themselves  Anglo-Saxons  rather  than 
British.    {Nomen  a  potiori  fit.) 

In  the  ninth  and  eleventh  centuries  the  island  was 
invaded  by  other  Germanic  tribes,  directly  by  way 
of  the  North  Sea  or  indirectly  by  the  Channel 
from  Normandy,  and  so  the  language  was  developed 
still  further  along  English,  that  is  Germanic  lines. 
(According  to  the  Century  Dictionary  the  historical 
pronunciation  of  the  word  is  eng'-glish  and  not  ing'- 
glish). 

Low  Germans,  (Nether  Saxons  or  Piatt  Deutsch) 
who  have  settled  in  New  York  in  such  large  num- 
bers, enjoy  a  distinct  advantage  over  other  nation- 
alities. In  the  vernacular  of  America  they  discover 
simply  another  dialect  of  their  native  tongue.  Hence 
they  acquire  the  new  dialect  with  little  difficulty. 
The  simpler  words  and  expressions  of  the  common 
people  are  almost  the  same  as  those  which  they  used 
on  the  shores  of  the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic.  For 
example:  Wo  is  min  Vader?  Where  is  my  father? 
He  is  in  the  Hus.  He  is  in  the  house.  English  and 
German  sailors  from  opposite  shores  of  the  North 
Sea,  using  the  simpler  words  of  their  respective  lan- 


•"PhilologicaUy,  English,  considered  with  reference  to  Its 
orlg-lnal  form,  Anglo-Saxon,  and  to  the  grammatical  fea- 
tures which  it  retains  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin,  is  the  most 
conspicuous  member  of  the  Low  German  group  of  the  Teu- 
tonic family,  the  other  Low  German  languages  being  Old 
Saxon,  Old  Priesic.  Old  Low  German,  and  other  extinct 
forms,  and  the  modern  Dutch,  Flemish,  Frlesic,  and  Low 
German  (Piatt  Deutsch).  These,  with  High  German,  con- 
stitute the  'West  Germanic'  branch,  as  Gothic  and  the 
Scandinavian  tongues  constitute  the  'East  Germanic' 
branch,  of  the  Teutonic  family.  (Century  Dictionary  under 
the  word  'English.')" 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  LANGUAGE 


guages,  have  no  trouble  in  making  themselves  under- 
stood when  they  meet. 

The  High  Germans  learn  English  more  slowly,  but 
they,  too,  find  many  points  of  contact,  not  only  in 
the  words  but  also  in  the  grammatical  construction 
of  the  language. 

In  the  United  States  the  descendants  of  Germans 
number  seventeen  millions.  They  have  made  no  in- 
considerable contributions  to  the  sum  total  of  Ameri- 
can civilization.  For  philological  reasons,  as  we 
have  seen,  no  people  are  more  ready  than  the  Ger- 
mans to  adopt  English  for  ev©ry-day  use.  None 
amalgamate  more  easily  with  the  political  and  social 
life  of  the  country  of  their  choice.  In  normal  times 
we  do  not  think  of  them  as  foreigners. 

English  has  the  right  of  way.  Its  composite  char- 
acter makes  it  the  language  for  every-day  use. 
Thirty-five  languages  are  spoken  in  this  city,  but  the 
assimilative  power  of  English  absorbs  them  all.  The 
Public  Schodl  is  the  effective  agent  in  the  process. 
This  is  the  melting  pot  for  all  diversities  of  speech. 
Children  dislike  to  be  looked  upon  as  different  from 
their  companions,  and  so  it  rarely  happens  that  the 
language  of  the  parents  is  spoken  by  the  second  gen- 
eration of  immigrant  families.  Their  elders,  even 
when  their  ''speech  bewrayeth"  them,  make  strenu- 
ous efforts  to  use  the  language  of  their  neighbors. 

Seeing,  then,  that  Anglicization  is  inevitable,  why 
should  we  not  cut  the  Gordian  knot,  and  conduct 
our  ministry  wholly  in  the  English  language?  This 
would  greatly  simplify  our  tasks,  besides  removing 
from  us  the  stigma  of  foreignism. 

We  are  often  advised  to  do  so,  especially  by  our 

83 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


monoglot  brethren.  There  are  those  who  go  so  far 
as  to  say  that  the  use  of  any  language  other  than 
the  English  impairs  the  Americanism  of  the  user. 

Some  of  the  languages  at  present  used  iu  our 
church  services  may  be  of  negligible  importance. 
The  Slovak,  Magyar  and  Finnish  for  example,  as 
well  as  the  Lettish,  Esthonian  and  Lithuanian  of  the 
Baltic  Provinces,  will  never  have  more  than  a  re- 
stricted use  in  this  city.  The  Scandinavians  and 
those  whose  vernacular  is  the  Low  German  easily 
substitute  English  for  their  mother  tongue.  Scandi- 
navian is  kindred  to  English,  while  Low  German  is 
the  very  group  of  which,  philologically  speaking, 
English  is  the  most  conspicuous  member.  Upon 
these  tongues  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  do  summary 
execution. 

It  is  a  different  matter,  however,  when  we  come  to 
High  German,  or,  properly  speaking,  New  High  Ger- 
man, the  language  of  German  literature  since  the 
sixteenth  century,  of  which  Luther,  through  his  ver- 
sion of  the  Bible,  may  be  called  the  creator.  He  at 
least  gave  it  universal  currency.  This  is  a  language 
which  we  could  not  lose  if  we  would,  and  v/ould  not 
if  we  could. 

Scholars  are  compelled  to  learn  it  because  it  is 
the  indispensable  medium  for  scientific  and  philo- 
sophical study.  Formerly  Latin  was  this  medium, 
today  it  is  German. 

Lovers  of  literature  learn  it  because  it  is  the  lan- 
guage of  Goethe  and  Schiller,  the  particular  stars  of 
a  galaxy  that  for  the  modem  world  at  least  out- 
shines the  productions  of  the  ancient  classics. 

Lutherans  enshrine  it  in  their  inmost  souls  because 

84 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  LANGUAGE 


it  is  the  receptacle  of  treasures  of  meditation  and 
devotion  with  which  their  forms  of  worship  have 
been  enriched  for  four  hundred  years.  To  ignore 
Angelus  Silesius,  Paul  Gerhardt,  Albert  Knapp,  Phil- 
ip Spitta  and  their  glorious  compeers,  would  be  to 
silence  a  choir  that  sang  the  praises  of  the  Lord  *'in 
notes  almost  divine." 

We  need  the  literature  in  which  the  ideas  of  our 
church  have  for  centuries  been  expressed.  Language 
is  the  medium  of  ideas.  The  thirty  denominations 
that  constitute  the  bulk  of  Protestantism  in  this 
country  derive  the  spirit  of  their  church  life  for  the 
most  part  from  non-Lutheran  sources  through  the 
medium  of  English  literature.  This  is  as  it  should 
be.  But  when  Lutherans  no  longer  understand  the 
language  of  their  fathers  or  the  literature  in  which 
the  ideas  of  their  confession  have  found  their  fullest 
expression,  they  lose  an  indispensable  condition  of 
intellectual  and  spiritual  growth.  They  can  never 
understand  as  they  should  the  spirit  of  the  church 
to  which  they  belong.  They  are  doomed  sooner  or 
later  to  share  the  fate  of  the  Lutherans  of  New  York 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 

"When  we  have  forgotten  our  German  we  shall  be 
out  of  touch  with  the  Lutherans  who  come  to  us 
from  the  Fatherland.  For  the  time  being  the  World 
War  has  put  an  end  to  German  immigration,  but 
this  will  not  last  forever.  Some  time  certainly  im- 
migration will  be  resumed,  and  as  in  former  periods 
will  be  an  unfailing  source  of  supply  for  the  Luther- 
an churches  of  New  York. 

In  the  nineteenth  century  the  ** Americanized'* 
Lutherans  did  not  understand   the   Germans  who 

85 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


came  over  in  such  overwhelming  numbers,  and  were 
unprepared  to  shepherd  them  in  Lutheran  folds.  The 
work  had  to  be  done  by  immigrant  pastors  who,  on 
their  part,  did  not  understand  the  American  life  well 
enough  to  accomplish  the  best  results.  For  the  sake 
of  the  Lutherans  who  come  to  us  from  foreign  lands 
we  cannot  afford  to  lose  touch  with  the  historical 
languages  of  their  churches. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
use  of  German  had  sunk  almost  to  zero.  The  min- 
utes of  the  German  Society  had  to  be  written  in  Eng- 
lish because  no  one  was  sufficiently  versed  in  Ger- 
man to  write  them  in  this  language.  There  was  noth- 
ing to  interfere  with  the  supremacy  of  English.  Yet 
the  English  Lutheran  church  was  unable  to  ''propa- 
gate the  faith  of  the  fathers  in  the  language  of  the 
children.**  Down  to  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
centurj^  the  English  churches  were  dependent  for 
their  growth  upon  accessions  from  the  German  and 
Scandinavian  churches.  They  were  unable  to  retain 
even  the  families  they  had  inherited  from  their 
Dutch  and  German  ancestors.  We  search  in  vain 
for  descendants  of  the  New  York  Lutherans  of  the 
eighteenth  century  in  any  of  our  churches. 

Not  until  a  new  contribution  of  immigrants  from 
Lutheran  lands  had  been  made  to  America  did  our 
church  begin  to  rise  to  a  position  of  influence. 

When  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury the  first  self-sustaining  English  Lutheran 
church  was  established,  the  Ockershausens  and  other 
children  of  immigrants  were  the  strong  pillars  of 
its  support.  From  that  day  to  the  present  time  not 
a  single  English  Lutheran  church  has  been  estab- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  LANGUAGE 


lished  and  maintained  in  this  city  where  the  Schier- 
ens,  the  Mollers  and  scores  of  others,  immigrants  or 
the  children  of  immigrants,  were  not  the  chief  sup- 
porters of  the  work.  Without  their  effective  aid  the 
English  Lutherans  of  the  nineteenth  century  would 
have  been  swallowed  up  by  ''the  denominations  that 
are  around  us"  as  were  their  predecessors  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

Some  of  our  Anglo-American  neighbors  are  con- 
cerned about  our  political  welfare.  They  advise  us 
to  drop  the  German  in  order  that  we  may  become 
"Americanized." 

Many  of  us  are  the  children  of  Germans  who  tilled 
the  soil  of  America  before  there  was  a  United  States 
of  America. 

The  Germans  of  the  Mohawk  Valley  won  at  Oris- 
kany,  according  to  Washington,  the  first  battle  of 
importance  in  the  American  Revolution.* 

The  Germans  of  Pennsylvania,  long  a  neutral  col- 
ony on  account  of  its  large  English  population,  ob- 
tained the  right  of  suffrage  in  May,  1776,  and  turned 
the  scale  in  favor  of  liberty.  Through  their  vote 
Pennsylvania  was  brought  by  a  narrow  margin  into 
line  with  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  which  would 
otherwise  have  remained  separated  and  unable  to 
make  effective  resistance  against  the  armies  of  King 
George. 

The  Germans  of  Virginia  followed  their  Lutheran 
pastor,  Peter  Muhlenberg,  and  made  memorable  the 
loyalty  of  American  Lutherans.  Steuben,  the  drill- 
master  of  the  Revolution,  transformed  the  untrained 
and  helpless  troops  of  Washington  into  an  effective 


87 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


force  capable  of  meeting  the  seasoned  soldiers  of 
Comwallis  and  Burgoyne. 

Our  German  ancestors  were  peasants,  unable  to 
write  history,  but  they  helped  to  make  history.  With- 
out their  timely  aid  there  would  not  have  been  a 
United  States  of  America.  Their  children  do  not 
need  to  be  "Americanized."  Nor  have  later  immi- 
grants from  Germany  and  Scandinavia,  at  any  pe- 
riod of  our  history,  shown  less  loyalty  to  American 
ideals. 

We  may  concede  the  hegemony  of  English  in  the 
political  and  intellectual  life  of  America,  but  in  a 
great  country  like  America  there  is  room  for  others 
also.  It  is  a  narrow  view  of  our  civilization  to  make 
** American"  synonymous  with  English.  America  is 
not  the  dumping  ground  of  the  nations.  It  is  a  land 
where  the  best  ideals  of  all  nations  may  be  repro- 
duced and  find  room  for  expansion  and  growth. 

The  German  and  Scandinavian  churches  of  New 
York  are  not  ignorant  of  the  importance  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  in  the  maintenance  of  their  church 
work.  (See  table  of  Churches  in  the  Appendix.) 
With  scarcely  an  exception  they  make  all  possible 
use  of  English  in  their  services.  This  they  are  com- 
pelled to  do  in  order  to  reach  their  children.  In  this 
way,  and  by  making  generous  contributions  of  their 
members  to  the  English  churches,  they  are  doing 
their  full  share  in  the  general  work  of  church  ex- 
tension in  the  English  language. 

They  send  their  sons  into  the  ministry  to  an  ex- 
tent that  has  not  been  approached  by  our  English 
churches.  (See  Appendix  under  Sons  of  the  Church.) 
Nearly  all  of  these  are  bi-lingual  in  their  ministerial 

88 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  LANGUAGE 


work  and  many  of  them  serve  exclusively  English 
churches.  There  is  a  proverb  about  killing  the  goose 
that  lays  the  golden  egg,  which  we  would  do  well  to 
bear  in  mind. 

Concordia  Seminary  in  St.  Louis,  founded  by  Dr. 
Walther  and  the  Germans  of  Missouri,  numbers  344 
students.  Candidates  for  graduation  must  be  able 
to  minister  in  at  least  two  languages.  In  a  polyglot 
church  such  as  ours  this  would  seem  to  be  a  policy 
worthy  of  imitation. 

The  fifteen  languages  in  which  we  minister  to 
our  people  confer  upon  us  an  honorable  distinction. 
Each  one  represents  an  individuality  which  cannot 
be  ignored,  some  spiritual  gift  which  is  worth  exer- 
cising and  preserving.  By  keeping  in  touch  with 
this  many-sided  life  we  enrich  our  own  lives,  obtain 
broader  conceptions  of  the  church's  mission,  and  fit 
ourselves  for  more  effective  service  in  this  most  cos- 
mopolitan city  of  the  world.  Instead  of  trying  to 
exterminate  these  languages,  let  us  cultivate  a  clos- 
er acquaintance  with  them  and  let  us  pray  for  that 
Pentecostal  spirit  which  will  enable  us  to  say  **W9 
do  hear  them  speak  in  our  tongues  the  wonderful 
works  of  God." 


89 


The  Problem  of  Membership 

Three  classes  of  members  are  recognized  in  our 
churches:  1,  Those  who  have  been  baptized.  2, 
Those  who  have  been  confirmed — that  is,  those  who 
after  the  prescribed  course  of  instruction  and  exam- 
ination have  been  admitted  to  the  communion.  3, 
Communicants — that  is,  those  who  are  in  active  fel- 
lowship with  the  church  in  the  use  of  the  word  and 
the  sacrament.* 

There  is  a  fourth  class  of  which  no  note  is  taken 
in  our  church  records.  It  is  the  class  of  lapsed  Luth- 
erans— that  is,  of  those  who  have  been  admitted  to 
full  communion  but  who  have  slipped  away  and  are 
no  longer  in  active  connection  with  the  church. 

Of  these  we  shall  speak  in  a  separate  chapter. 

It  is  sometimes  charged  that  the  Lutheran  com- 
munion does  not  hold  clear  views  of  the  church. 
On  the  one  hand  her  confessions  abound  in  defini- 
tions of  the  church  as  a  spiritual  kingdom,  as  a  fel- 
lowship of  believers.  On  the  other  hand  her  practice 
frequently  reminds  our  brother  Protestants  of  the 
Catholics,  and  they  are  disposed  to  look  upon  us  as 
Romanists,    minorum  gentium.,     ''Like  a  will-of-the- 


*The  temporal  affairs  of  the  congregation  as  a  civic  cor- 
poration are  regulated  by  the  State  and  the  qualifications 
of  a  voting  member  are  defined  in  the  laws  of  the  State. 
This  chapter  deals  only  with  the  question  of  membership  in 
the  church  as  a  spiritual  body.  In  general  the  State  read- 
ily acquiesces  in  the  polity  of  the  various  churches  so  long 
as  it  does  not  interfere  with  the  civic  rights  of  the  indi- 
vidual, 

91 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 

wisp,"  says  Delitzsch,  ''the  idea  of  the  church  eludes 
us.  It  seems  impossible  to  find  the  safe  middle 
ground  between  a  false  externalism  on  the  one  hand 
and  a  false  internalism  on  the  other  hand." 

The  Lutheran  position  can  only  be  understood 
when  we  recall  the  situation  that  confronted  the  Re- 
formers in  the  sixteenth  century.  They  had  first  of 
all  to  interpret  the  teachings  of  Scripture  over 
against  Rome,  and  hence  in  their  earlier  confessions 
they  emphasized  the  points  on  which  they  differed 
from  the  Pope. 

According  to  Romish  doctrine  a  man  became  a 
member  of  the  church,  not  by  an  interna  virtus,  but 
solely  through  an  external  profession  of  faith  and  an 
external  use  of  the  sacraments.  The  church  is  as  vis- 
ible and  perceptible  an  organization  as  is  ''the  king- 
dom of  France  or  the  republic  of  Venice."  The 
church  is  an  institution  rather  than  a  communion. 

For  thirteen  centuries,  from  Cyprian  to  Bellarmin, 
this  doctrine  held  almost  undisputed  sway. 

The  Reformers  demonstrated  the  significance  of 
faith,  and  showed  the  untenableness  of  Rome's  con- 
ception of  the  church  as  a  mere  institution.  Thom- 
asius  calls  this  a  central  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  But  at  the  same  time  the  Reformers  had  to 
take  a  stand  against  the  hyperspiritual  positions  of 
the  fanatics,  as  well  as  the  teachings  of  the  Zwing- 
lians  who  denied  the  efficacy  of  the  means  of  grace. 
The  confessions,  therefore,  as  well  as  the  subsequent 
writings  of  ]\Ielanchthon  and  the  dogmaticians,  and 
the  entire  history  and  development  of  the  Lutheran 
churches  must  be  read  in  the  light  of  this  two-fold 
antagonism. 

92 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

The  system  which  the  Reformers  controverted 
must  have  had  features  acceptable  to  the  natural 
man  or  it  would  not  have  prevailed  for  so  many 
centuries.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  when  Roman- 
ism creeps  back  into  nominally  Protestant  churches. 
It  behooves  us,  therefore,  to  be  on  our  guard  and  to 
purge  out  the  old  leaven.  And  the  opposite  ten- 
dency which  undervalues  the  visible  church,  must 
also  be  corrected  by  a  Scriptural  doctrine  of  the 
ordinances. 

The  practice  of  our  churches  is  a  resultant  mainly 
of  three  forces : 

■  1.  Doctrine,  defined  in  the  Confessions,  modified 
by  Melanchthon 's  later  writings  and  by  the  dogmati- 
eians  of  the  17th  century,  considerably  influenced 
also  by  Spener  and  the  Pietists,  while  not  a  little  has 
come  to  us  from  the  Rationalistic  period. 

2.  Tradition,  from  the  civil  and  social  arrange- 
ments of  the  national  churches  from  which  we  are 
descended,  inherited  through  generations  of  our  pre- 
decessors in  this  country.  We  follow  in  the  old  ruts, 
and  "the  way  we  have  always  been  doing"  puts  an 
end  to  controversy. 

3.  Environment.  Consciously  or  unconsciously 
we  are  influenced  by  the  practice  of  neighboring  de- 
nominations. 

The  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  ascertain  the  his- 
toric principles  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  regard  to 
church  membership,  to  test  their  validity  by  Scrip- 
tures and  to  apply  them  to  present  conditions. 

The  Church  is  primarily  the  communion  of  saints. 
Thus  in  the  Small  Catechism :  '*even  as  He  (the  Holy 
Ghost)  .  .  .  sanctifies  the  whole  Christian  Church  on 

93 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


earth."  In  the  Large  Catechism  the  same  thought, 
that  the  Church  is  the  product  of  the  Holy  G-host,  is 
expressed  in  ample  terms.  Rome's  doctrine  of  the 
Church,  as  essentially  an  external  organism,  was  an- 
swered in  the  7th  Article  of  the  Augustana  with  the 
statement  that  the  Church  is  the  ''congregation  of 
saints,"  and  this  Article  was  the  object  of  special  at- 
tack in  the  Confutation.  In  the  Apologia  the  Church 
is  the  congregation  of  those  who  confess  one  Gospel, 
have  a  knowledge  of  Christ  and  a  Holy  Spirit  who 
renews,  sanctifies  and  governs  their  hearts  (Mueller 
153,  8).  In  the  Smalcald  Articles:  ''Thank  God,  a 
child  of  seven  years  knows  what  the  Church  is, 
namely  the  holy  believers  and  the  lambs  who  hear 
their  Shepherd's  voice."  The  Formula  of  Concord 
has  no  special  article  on  the  Church,  but  touches  the 
question  incidentally  and  confirms  the  statements  of 
the  other  symbols.  (See  Rohnert,  Dogmatik,  p.  505.) 
These  teachings  are  in  harmony  with  New  Testa- 
ment doctrine.  Jesus  said:  "Upon  this  rock  will  I 
build  my  church,"  the  congregation  of  God's  chil- 
dren, the  spiritual  house  which  in  the  years  to  come 
**I  will  build."  This  Church  was  founded  through 
the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  Pentecost. 
When  the  Epistles  were  written  Ecclesia  had  become 
the  established  term.  In  Acts  2,  42,  we  find  that 
Koinonia  was  one  of  the  essential  characteristics  of 
the  Church.  John  uses  the  same  term  in  his  first 
letter.  This  is  the  very  truth  repeated  in  the  7th 
Article  of  the  Augustana.  Paul,  in  his  letter  to 
Titus,  refers  to  Christians  as  those  who  have  believed 
in  God;  Romans  8,  "God's  elect;"  also  in  Colos- 
sians  3,  1,  "elect  of  God;"  I.  Peter  2,  "holy  nation, 

94 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEMBERSHIP 


peculiar  people;"  I.  Cor.  1,  ''Sanctified  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  etc.,  etc.  They  form  a  "spiritual  house,"  I. 
Peter,  2;  ''God's  building,"  I.  Cor.,  3;  "body  of 
Christ"  in  process  of  edification,  Eph.  4.  This  body 
of  Christ  is  an  organic  unity  in  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  dwells  as  in  a  temple,  I.  Cor.,  3 ;  and  of  which 
Christ  is  the  head,  Eph.  1,  22.  The  Church  is  the 
"bride  of  Christ,"  II.  Cor.,  11,  2;  destined  to  be 
"holy  and  without  blemish,"  Eph.,  5,  27. 

The  Romish  doctrine  of  the  Church  began  with 
Cyprian  in  the  third  century.  When  the  Puritans  of 
that  day,  the  Montanists,  Novatians  and  Donatists 
unduly  emphasized  the  ideal  character  of  the 
Church,  there  was  justification  for  the  answer  of 
Cyprian,  emphasizing  its  empiric  character,  its  actual 
condition.  When  after  thirteen  centuries  of  abuse 
of  this  position  a  Reformation  occurred,  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  the  Reformers  would  first  of  all  em- 
phasize the  ideal,  the  inner  character  of  the  Church. 

But  while  this  movement,  w^hich  Julius  Stahl  felic- 
itously termed  the  Conservative  Reformation,  was 
going  on,  there  was  also  a  radical  Reformation 
which  repudiated  the  idea  of  a  visible  church.  The 
Romanists,  in  their  confutation  of  the  Augustana, 
called  attention  to  this  view,  and  wrongfully 
charged  the  Lutherans  with  holding  it.  In  contro- 
verting this  position,  the  Romanists  very  properly 
quoted  the  parable  of  the  tares  and  the  parable  of 
the  net  with  all  kinds  of  fishes.  The  Apologia  re- 
plied by  showing  that  the  8th  Article  of  the  August- 
ana  had  repudiated  this  position,  and  that  bad  men 
and  hypocrites  were  not  excluded  ab  externa  socie- 
tate. 

95 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Thus  the  Romanists  regard  the  Church  as  essen- 
tially visible,  the  Reformed,  as  essentially  invisible, 
while  Lutherans  hold  that  she  is  both.  The  invisible 
Church  is  contained  within  the  visible  just  as  the 
soul  is  contained  within  the  body.  The  Church  is 
not  merely  a  congregation  of  believers,  but  also  an 
institution  for  the  promotion  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God. 

In  their  controversy  with  Rome  Lutherans  held 
that  the  Church  did  not  exist  merely  in  participa- 
tion of  external  rites,  but  chiefly  in  the  possession  of 
the  inward  life,  the  heavenly  gifts.  As  yet  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  is  not  revealed,  and  the  visible 
Church  is  a  corpus  mixtum.  Thus  the  Apologia  dis- 
tinguishes clearly  between  the  ecclesia  proprie  et 
large  dicta  (church  in  the  proper  and  church  in  the 
wider  sense  of  the  term). 

Nevertheless  this  Kingdom  of  Christ  has  a  visible 
existence.  "We  are  not  dreaming  of  a  Platonic  com- 
monwealth," says  the  Apologia,  "for  it  has  external 
marks,  the  preaching  of  the  pure  Gospel  and  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments."  And  this  Church 
is  the  "pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,"  for  she  is 
built  upon  the  true  foundation,  Christ,  and  upon 
this  foundation  Christians  are  built  up. 

Subsequently,  in  his  Loci,  Melanchthon  developed 
still  further  the  idea  of  the  Church  as  an  Institutum. 
This  may  have  been  because  of  the  fanatics,  or  it 
may  have  been  because  of  his  entire  disposition  as  a 
teacher  and  pedagogue.  Followed  as  he  was  in  sup- 
port of  his  views  by  the  dogmaticians,  the  Lutheran 
Church   acquired  that  distinctive   character  which 

96 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEMBERSHIP 


has  marked  her  history  as  an  educating  and  train- 
ing force.  This  position  is  still  further  explained 
from  the  fact  that  the  Lutherans,  unlike  the  Re- 
formed, were  placed  in  charge  of  nations  and  peo- 
ples, and  had  to  be  responsible  for  their  Christian 
guidance  and  training.  As  a  national  church,  her 
relations  to  the  people  were  different  from  those  of 
the  Reformed,  who,  on  the  continent,  existed  mainly 
in  smaller  communities  and  congregations  where  it 
was  comparatively  easy  to  enforce  church  discipline. 

In  this  relation  the  Church  is  not  only  the  prod- 
uct, but  also  the  organ  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  her 
duty  to  nourish  the  life  of  its  members  (parturit  et 
alit),  and  to  spread  the  blessings  of  the  Church  to 
others.  According  to  the  Large  Catechism,  she  is 
the  spiritual  mother  of  the  faithful.  Her  pedagogic 
duty  is  pointed  out.  (See  Rohnert,  Dogmatik,  pp. 
508  and  487.) 

This  visible  character  of  the  Church  is  recognized 
in  the  New  Testament  in  the  various  commands  and 
promises  given  to  her:  the  power  of  the  keys,  the 
duty  to  confess  before  men,  to  serve  one  another  in 
love,  of  united  intercession,  of  contending  against 
the  kingdom  of  darkness.  In  the  Epistles  the  pres- 
ence of  sinful  men  is  everywhere  recognized,  never- 
theless the  members  of  the  Church  are  termed  "the 
called"  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Lutheranism  of  the  16th  century  stood  between 
two  opposite  errors,  Rome  on  the  one  hand  with  its 
exaggerated  ideas  of  the  Church  as  an  institution, 
and  Reform  on  the  other  hand  with  its  one-sided  no- 
tions of  the  invisible  church.  The  Lutheran  Church 
took  the  via  media,  declaring  that  the  Church,  pro- 


97 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


prie,  was  spiritual,  but  that  it  was  also  an  institu- 
tion. The  question  for  us  is  whether  we  Lutherans 
of  the  twentieth  century  have  remained  on  the  via 
media  ov  whether  we  have  not  slipped  too  far  to  the 
right  or  to  the  left. 

To  find  the  answer  one  would  naturally  consult 
our  church  formulas  and  constitutions.  According 
to  Dr.  Walther's  "Pastorale,"  the  candidate  for  ad- 
mission to  a  "  Missouri ' '  church  must  be  a  truly  con- 
verted and  regenerated  Christian.  The  General 
Council  requires  that  the  candidate  shall  have  been 
admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper  and  shall  accept  the 
constitution.  The  Synod  of  New  York  requires  that 
candidates  be  confirmed,  accept  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession, lead  a  Christian  life,  obey  the  constitution 
and  any  other  regulations  that  may  hereafter  be 
adopted. 

From  this  it  seems  that  "Missouri"  is  the  only 
body  that  emphasizes  the  interna  virtus.  The  others 
place  the  emphasis  upon  conformity  with  certain 
outward  forms  and  requirements. 

But  we  cannot  always  judge  from  the  printed  con- 
stitution. To  bring  the  information  up  to  date,  and 
to  ascertain  the  actual  usage  of  the  churches,  the 
author  obtained  from  forty  pastors  'of  this  city  an 
account  of  their  practice.  Some  of  their  replies  will 
be  embodied  in  this  chapter. 

Theoretically  we  enter  the  church  through  bap- 
tism. Practically,  for  most  Lutherans,  confirmation 
is  the  door  of  admission. 

This  rite  is  a  comparatively  new  measure  among 
us.  Prior  to  the  eighteenth  century  it  had  only  a 
limited  use  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  it  has  at- 

98 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

tained  an  inordinately  prominent  place.  Spener  was 
among  the  first  to  recognize  its  practical  value,  and 
its  beautiful  ritual  made  a  strong  appeal  to  the  pop- 
ular imagination.  It  is  one  of  the  ancient  ceremo- 
nies to  which  we  do  not  object  if  it  is  properly  used. 

Now  tell  us,  you  who  make  so  much  of  confirma- 
tion and  so  little  of  catechization,  seeing  that  you 
are  content  with  six  months  of  the  latter,  in  adopt- 
ing a  rite  which  Spener  and  the  Pietists  introduced 
into  the  church,  have  you  also  adopted  the  principles 
which  governed  Spener  and  the  Pietists  in  the  prac- 
tice of  confirmation?  Their  object  in  catechization 
and  confirmation  was  conversion.  ''A  stranger  vis- 
ited my  class  one  day,"  says  Spener.  ''The  next 
day  he  called  to  see  me  and  expressed  his  great  pleas- 
ure with  my  instruction.  'But,'  said  he,  'this  in- 
struction is  for  the  head.  The  question  is  how  to 
bring  the  head  to  the  heart.'  And  these  words  he 
repeated  three  times.  I  will  not  deny  that  they 
made  such  an  impression  upon  me  that  for  the  rest 
of  my  days  I  shall  not  forget  them." 

We  are  not  advocating  extravagant  ideas  of  con- 
version, or  requiring  a  religious  experience  from 
children  of  fourteen  years  which  in  the  nature  of 
the  case  they  cannot  have.  But  have  we  a  right  in 
this  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  child  to  overlook  that 
infinitely  important  experience  which  our  dogmati- 
cians  termed  regressus  ad  baptismum?  Said  Pro- 
fessor Kaftan,  in  an  address  to  a  Ministers'  Confer- 
ence: "The  word  conversion  is  the  appropriate 
term  for  expressing  the  way  in  which  a  man  be- 
comes a  Christian  and  a  believer.  Most  Christians 
can  tell  you  something  about  how  it  happened  that 

99 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YORK 


they  sought  a  new  aim  and  chose  another  path  in 
life.  Even  among  those  who  have  had  a  peaceful 
and  gradual  development,  there  came  a  time  when 
they  reached  a  conscious  and  decisive  resolution  to 
belong  no  more  to  the  world  but  to  God.  ^^Man  wird 
nicht  von  selhst  ein  Christ,  man  muss  sick  bekehren 
um  ein  Christ  zu  werden."  "We  do  not  repudiate 
the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration  as  it  is  held 
in  the  Lutheran  Church.  On  this  point  we  are  in 
accord  with  our  Confessions.  But  before  we  adopt 
without  reservation  the  idea  that  baptized  children 
are  regenerate,  we  must  revise  our  practice  in  the 
matter  of  baptizing  infants.  So  long  as  we  practice 
the  Winheltaufe  and  baptize  indiscriminately  the 
children  of  people  who  give  us  no  guarantee  that 
the  children  will  be  brought  up  in  the  Christian 
faith,  so  long  as  the  Church  fails  to  recognize  her 
obligation  to  these  baptized  children  and  does  not 
take  them  under  her  nourishing  care  from  the  time 
when  they  emerge  from  the  family  and  enter  into 
the  larger  life  of  the  street  and  the  school,  we  have 
no  right  to  place  such  an  emphasis  upon  baptismal 
regeneration.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  Lutheran 
doctrine  of  baptismal  grace  has  in  many  minds  been 
supplanted  by  a  mechanical,  thaumaturgiel  concep- 
tion which  differs  from  the  Roman  doctrine  only  in 
being  far  more  dangerous.  Rome  at  least  enforces 
the  claims  of  tthe  Church  recognized  in  baptism.  We 
baptize  them  and  let  them  run.  We  corral  a  few 
of  them  for  a  few  months  just  before  confirmation 
and  then  let  them  run  again.  So  does  not  Rome. 
Dr.  Cremer,  of  Greifswald,  an  able  defender  of 

100 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

the  Lutheran  faith,  in  his  replj^  to  Dr.  Lepsius  on  the 

subject  of  Baptismal  Regeneration,  says : 

"It  is  sad  indeed  that  in  the  use  of  the  sacraments  there 
is  generally  more  of  superstition  than  of  faith.  This  must 
be  openly  confessed,  for  only  then  can  conditions  be  im- 
proved when  faults  are  recognized  and  made  known.  .  . 
We  may  continue  to  baptize  chiildren  of  Gewohnheits- 
christen  (formal  Christians),  but  it  is  a  question  whether 
we  ought  to  continue  to  baptize  the  children  of  those 
who  have  given  up  the  faith  and  among  whom  there  is 
no  guarantee  of  a  Christian  training.  This  means  also 
a  reformation  in  our  confirmation  practice.  Does  con- 
firmation mean  a  family  party,  or  mark  the  time  to 
leave  school,  or  has  it  something  to  do  with  baptism? 
These  are  rocks  of  offense  which  must  be  cleared  out 
of  the  way  if  the  Church  is  to  be  restored  to  health." 

Among  the  questions  proposed  to  the  pastors  were 
the  following: 

1.  Do  you  have  a  personal  interview  with  each  can- 
didate prior  to  confirmation  with  the  view  of  ascer- 
taining his  fitness  for  the  act  ? 

2.  Do  you  at  that  interview  inquire  as  to  the  can- 
didate's repentance,  faith,  conversion,  new  life? 

3.  Is  the  confirmation  of  the  candidate  dependent 
upon  the  satisfactory  result  of  this  examination? 

Among  the  answers  were  the  following:  ''Not  in- 
dividually." "No,  except  before  the  congregation." 
"Not  formally  so."  "For  at  least  six  months." 
"Only  with  certain  ones,"  etc.,  etc. 

A  goodly  number  of  pastors  speak  to  the  candi- 
dates "unter  vier  Augen"  but  they  are  the  excep- 
tions. The  ordinary  practice  knows  nothing  of  such 
a  course.  The  public  examination  is  little  more  than 
an  exhibition. 

In  other  words,  we  have  strayed  over  to  the  Ro- 
man side  of  the  road.      The  difference  between  us 

101 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


and  the  Roman  priest  being  this:  he  will  see  them 
again  at  the  confessional,  but  those  whom  we  con- 
firm in  this  superficial  way,  many  of  them,  we  shall 
never  see  again.  Or,  if  perchance  we  should  see 
some  of  them,  it  will  be  at  long  range,  the  same  as 
when  we  first  admitted  them  to  confirmation.  Im- 
agine a  doctor  curing  his  patients  in  this  way,  get- 
ting them  together  in  a  room  and  prescribing  for 
their  diseases  from  what  he  sees  of  them  in  a  crowd. 
The  care  of  souls  cannot  be  performed  in  bulk,  it 
is  the  care  of  a  soul. 

Besides  what  a  privilege  the  pastor  loses,  the  op- 
portunity of  a  lifetime,  not  only  to  explain  to  an  in- 
quiring heart  the  mysteries  of  our  faith  in  the  light 
of  his  personal  need,  but  also  to  put  himself  in  such 
a  relation  to  the  individual  that  he  may  become  a 
beloved  Beichvater.  But  alas,  we  have  to  a  great 
extent  lost  the  confessional.  Instead  of  it  we  have 
a  hybrid  combination  of  Lutheran  doctrine  and  Re- 
formed practice,  and  we  distribute  our  absolution 
ore  roiundo  over  mixed  congregations  on  Sunday 
mornings  and  at  the  Preparatory  Service.  But  the 
real  confession  we  seldom  hear  and  a  valid  absolu- 
tion therefore  we  cannot  pronounce.  The  Keys  have 
indeed  been  committed  to  us,  but  we  seem  to  have 
lost  them,  for  the  door  of  the  sheepfold  hangs  very 
loose  in  our  churches  and  the  sheep  run  in  and  out 
pretty  much  as  they  please. 

But  while  some  of  our  churches  are  thus  leaning 
toward  Rome,  there  is  need  of  caution  also  against 
the  opposite  error.  A  false  and  exaggerated  spirit- 
uality will  lead  to  standards  of  holiness  which  are 
not  warranted  by  the  New  Testament.    Of«these  LU' 

103 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  MEMBERSHIP 


ther  himself  somewhere  said,  ''May  the  God  of  mer- 
cy preserve  me  from  belonging  to  a  congregation 
of  holy  people.  I  desire  to  belong  to  a  church  of 
poor  sinners  who  constantly  need  forgiveness  and 
the  help  of  a  good  physician."* 

Rome's  position  was  a  protest  against  Montanism. 
Without  question  there  is  a  great  truth  in  Cyprian's 
position  as  developed  by  Rome,  and  the  Reformers, 
particularly  Melanchthon,  guarded  it.  How  often  do 
we  hear  in  our  day  the  declaration:  ''I  do  not  need 
to  go  to  church.  I  can  be  just  as  good  a  Christian 
without."  This  position  Lutheranism  rebukes  by 
making  preaching  and  the  sacraments  the  pillars  on 
w-hich  the  church  rests.  Thus  is  conserved  what  was 
best  in  the  institutional  theory  of  the  ancient 
church,  so  that  in  spite  of  her  many  defects  both  as 
a  national  church  and  in  her  transplanted  condition, 
the  Lutheran  church  will  remain  an  important  fac- 
tor in  the  development  of  Protestant  Christianity. 

When  our  Reformed  neighbors  charge  us  with 
Romanism,  it  is  either  because  they  do  not  under- 
stand our  theory  and  have  overlooked  the  historical 
development,  or  because  they  judge  of  us  by  the 
Romish    practice  of  our  own  ministers    who    have 


♦Methods  of  receiving  candidates  into  active  membership 
vary  Some  synods,  as  we  have  seen,  make  no  distinction 
whatever  m  their  statistical  reports  between  occasional 
communicants  and  actual  members  of  the  congregation 
Admission  to  membership  should  take  place  by  vote  of  the 
congregation  or  at  least  of  the  Church  Council.  There 
should  likewise  be  some  rite  of  initiation.  In  the  case  of 
adults  who  come  from  other  congregations  it  need  not 
and  should  not  be  a  confirmation  service,  but  it  should  at 
least  be  a  public  introduction  of  the  candidate  into  the 
fellowship  of  the  congregation  with  which  he  desires  to 
become  identified.    (Matthew   10,  32). 

J03 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YORK 


thoughtlessly  slipped  over  too  far  toward  the  insti- 
tutional theory.  In  the  present  condition  of  reli- 
gious flux  we  have  a  mission  not  only  in  the  field  of 
doctrine,  but  also  in  practical  theology,  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  Church.  For  w^e  are  still  standing  be- 
tween two  antagonists.  Catholics  on  the  one  hand 
attract  the  masses  by  the  definiteness  of  their  exter- 
nal organization.  Over  against  them  we  emphasize 
the  essentially  spiritual  nature  of  the  Church.  There 
are  Protestants  on  the  other  hand  who,  while  placing 
the  emphasis  on  the  inner  life,  ignore  the  importance 
of  the  ordinances.  They  maintain  public  worship,  it 
is  true,  but  do  so  in  combination  with  secular  enter- 
tainment or  by  appealing  to  the  intellectual  or  es- 
thetic needs  of  the  community.  Others,  more  spirit- 
ually minded,  base  their  hopes  on  the  evangelist  and 
the  revival.  But  when  the  evangelist  has  taken  his 
leave,  and  the  people  have  to  listen  to  the  same  voice 
they  have  heard  so  long  before,  having  been  thor- 
oughly indoctrinated  wnith  the  idea  that  it  is  not  the 
Church  that  makes  a  man  a  Christian,  that  sacra- 
ments and  ordinances  are  merely  human  devices,  is 
it  any  wonder  that  many  of  them  ignore  the  church 
altogether? 

It  is  here  that  the  Lutheran  Church,  with  her  cath- 
olic spirit  and  her  evangelical  doctrine,  has  a  mes- 
sage for  our  times.  Her  doctrine  of  baptism,  of 
Christian  instruction  as  its  corrollary,  of  repentance, 
faith,  and  the  new  life,  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  of 
church  attendance,  of  the  sanctification  of  the  Lord's 
Day,  and  a  practical  application  of  these  doctrines 
to  the  life  in  the  care  of  souls,  establishes  a  standard 
of  membership  that  ought  to  make  our  churches 
sources  of  spiritual  power. 

104 


The  Problem  of  Religious  Education 

Historically  and  doctrinally  the  Lutheran  Church 
is  committed  to  week-day  instruction  in  religion. 
Historically,  because  in  establishing  the  public  school 
her  chief  purpose  was  to  provide  instruction  in  re- 
ligion; doctrinally,  because  from  her  point  of  view 
life  is  a  unit  and  cannot  be  divided  into  secular  and 
spiritual  compartments. 

American  Christians  are  confronted  with  two  ap- 
parently contradictory  propositions.  One  is  that 
there  can  be  no  true  education  without  religion.  The 
other  is  that  we  must  have  a  public  school,  open  to 
all  children  without  regard  to  creed. 

When  our  country  was  young,  and  Protestantism 
was  the  prevailing  type  of  religion,  these  two  ideas 
dwelt  peacefully  together.  The  founders  of  the  Re- 
public had  no  theory  of  education  from  which  re- 
ligion was  divorced.  But  the  influx  of  millions  of 
people  of  other  faiths  compels  us  to  revise  our  meth- 
ods and  to  test  them  by  our  principles,  the  principles 
of  a  free  Church  within  a  free  State.  Roman  Cath- 
olics and  Jews  object  to  our  traditions  and  charge 
us  with  inconsistency.  If  temporarily  we  withstand 
their  objections,  we  feel  that  a  great  victory  has 
been  won  for  religion  when  a  psalm  is  read  and  the 
Lord's  Prayer  said  at  the  opening  of  the  daily  ses- 
sion of  school.  We  still  have  *' religion"  in  the  pub- 
lic school, 

105 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YORK 


But  the  problem  remains.  On  the  one  hand,  those 
who  doubt  the  propriety  of  introducing  any  reli- 
gious instruction,  however  attenuated,  into  the  pub- 
lic school,  are  not  satisfied  with  the  compromise. 
There  are  judicial  decisions  which  place  even  the 
reading  of  the  Bible  under  the  head  of  sectarian  in- 
struction. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  who  believe  that  religion 
has  a  supreme  place  in  the  education  of  a  child,  and 
that  provision  should  therefore  be  made  for  it  in  its 
school  life,  realize  the  inadequacy  of  the  present 
methods. 

As  Herbert  Spencer  says:  "To  prepare  us  for 
complete  living  is  the  function  which  education  has 
to  discharge."  Character  rather  than  acquirement 
is  the  chief  aim  of  education.  Hence  we  cannot  ig- 
nore the  place  of  religion  in  education  without  doing 
violence  to  the  ultimate  purpose  of  education. 

The  importance  of  the  question  is  admitted  on  all 
sides.  But  it  remains  a  complex  and  difficult  prob- 
lem. Thus  far,  with  all  our  talent  for  practical  meas- 
ures, we  have  not  succeeded  in  reaching  a  solution. 

In  New  York,  in  common  with  other  churches,  we 
have  the  Sunday  School.  We  do  not  undervalue  its 
influence  and  cannot  dispense  with  its  aid.  But  does 
the  Sunday  School  meet  the  requirement  of  an  ade- 
quate system  of  religious  instruction?  It  is  an  insti- 
tution that  has  endeared  itself  to  the  hearts  of  mil- 
lions.. Originally  intended  for  the  waifs  of  an  Eng- 
lish manufacturing  town,  it  has  become  among  Eng- 
lish-speaking people  an  important  agency  of  religion. 
Apart  from  the  instruction  which  it  gives,  we  could 
not  dispense  with  it  as  a  field  for  the  cultivation  of 

106 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

lay  activity,  and  a  practical  demonstration  of  the 
priesthood  of  all  believers.  Nevertheless  its  best 
friends  concede  its  limitations.  From  a  pedagogical 
standpoint,  no  one  thinks  of  comparing  it  with  the 
secular  school.  With  but  half  an  hour  a  week  for 
instruction,  even  the  best  of  teachers  could  not  ex- 
pect important  results.  Its  chief  value  lies  in  the 
personal  influence  of  the  teacher.  But  instruction  in 
religion  involves  more  than  this. 

Nor  does  the  Sunday  School  reach  all  the  children. 
Attendance  is  voluntary,  and  hence  there  is  no  guar- 
antee that  all  the  children  of  school  age  will  obtain 
any  instruction,  to  say  nothing  of  graded  and  sys- 
tematic instruction,  taking  account  of  the  entire 
school  life,  and  holding  in  mind  the  ultimate  object 
of  instruction,  the  preparation  of  children  for  full 
membership  in  the  church.  But  this  is  one  of  the 
first  duties  of  the  churches,  to  look  after  all  their 
children  with  this  end  in  view. 

As  a  supplement  and  an  aid  the  Sunday  School  has 
untold  possibilities  of  usefulness.  But  all  its  merits 
and  advantages  cannot  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact 
that  it  does  not  and  cannot  meet  the  chief  require- 
ment of  the  Christian  school,  the  systematic  prep- 
aration of  all  the  children  for  the  duties  of  church 
membership.  In  this  work  the  church  cannot  shirk 
her  responsibility.  Her  very  existence  depends 
upon  it. 

Recognizing  this  obligation  some  of  our  churches 
maintain  the  Parochial  School.  Thirty  churches  out 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  are  making  a  heroic  effort 
to  be  loyal  to  their  ideals.  The  total  number  of  pu- 
pils is  1,612.    In  other  words,  out  of  42,106  children 

107 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


in  attendance  at  Sunday  School  only  4  per  cent,  get 
instruction  in  religion  through  the  Parochial  School. 
So  far  as  numbers  show  it  would  seem  to  be  a  fail- 
ure. But  one  cannot  always  judge  from  the  out- 
ward appearance.  Eight  of  these  parochial-school 
churches  report  fifty  of  their  sons  in  the  ministry.* 

In  view  of  such  a  result  w^ho  would  dare  to  say 
anything  in  disparagement  of  the  Parochial  School? 
Perhaps  its  friends  may  some  time  see  their  way 
clear  to  secure  greater  efficiency  by  establishing 
three  or  four  schools  in  place  of  the  thirty,  and  thus 
relieve  the  individual  congregations  of  a  serious  tax 
upon  their  resources. 

Some  of  our  churches  have  Saturday  schools  and 
classes  in  religion  on  other  week  days.  The  total 
number  of  pupils  reported  in  these  classes,  including 
the  members  of  confirmation  classes,  is  5,711.  Add 
to  these  the  1,612  pupils  of  the  parochial  schools, 
some  of  whom  have  already  been  counted  in  the  con- 
firmation classes,  and  we  have  at  most  7,323  chil- 
dren obtaining  instruction  in  religion  on  week  days, 
17  per  cent,  of  the  number  of  those  in  attendance  at 
Sunday  School. 

So  far  as  may  be  learned  therefore  from  such  sta- 
tistics as  are  available,  it  follows  that  83  per  cent, 
of  our  children  receive  no  public  instruction  in  re- 
ligion except  such  as  is  given  in  the  Sunday  School 
and  in  the  confirmation  class. 

Our  churches  do  not  take  kindly  to  the  so-called 
evangelistic  methods  of  reaching  unchurched  mass- 


•Some  of  the  pastors  failed  to  send  me  reports  on  this 
point,  but  I  have  been  credibly  informed  that  within  twelve 
years,  ten  of  these  churches  sent  sixty  of  their  sons  Into 
the  ministry. 

108 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

es,  claiming  that  our  methods,  in  particular  the  cate- 
chization  of  the  young-,  are  more  effective.  In  view 
of  the  figures  presented  above,  it  is  open  to  question 
whether  our  churches  practice  catechization  in  the 
historical  sense  of  the  word.  It  is  a  question  whe- 
ther our  method  of  imparting  instruction  in  the  cate- 
chism for  a  few  months  preliminary  to  confirmation 
does  justice  to  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church?  Many  of  our  pastors  sigh  under  the 
yoke  of  a  custom  which  promises  so  much  and  yields 
so  little. 

To  postpone  the  catechization  of  more  than  80  per 
cent,  of  the  children  until  they  are  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years  of  age,  and  to  complete  the  course  of  prep- 
aration for  communicant  membership  within  six 
months,  contributes  but  little  to  the  upbuilding  of 
strong  and  healthy  Lutheran  churches.  An  exam- 
ination of  our  church  rolls  shows  that  such  a  system 
is  a  large  contributor  to  the  class  of  lapsed  Luth- 
erans. We  get  the  children  too  late  and  we  lose 
them  too  early. 

This  is  *'an  hard  saying"  and  may  offend  many. 
But  among  all  the  problems  we  are  considering 
there  is  none  to  equal  it  in  importance.  Can  we  find 
a  solution? 

Wherever  the  churches  are  prepared  to  utilize  the 
time  in  giving  adequate  instruction  in  religion,  the 
curriculum  of  the  public  school  should  be  modified 
to  meet  this  need.  Competent  authorities  see  no  ob- 
jection to  this,  and  there  is  a  very  large  movement 
which  seeks  to  further  this  idea.* 


•At  the  meeting-  of  the  Inter-Church  Conference  In  Car- 
negie KaU,  New  York,  in  November,  1905,  at  which  twenty- 
nine  Protestant  Churches  of  America  were  represented,  the 

109 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YORK 


An  interdenominational  committee,  consisting  of 
Evangelical  Protestants  only,  was  organized  in  1914 
for  the  purposing  of  securing  week-day  instruction 
in  religion  for  the  children  of  New  York.  A  similar 
committee  consisting  of  representatives  of  all 
churches,  Protestant,  Catholic  and  Jewish,  was  or- 
ganized in  1915  which  is  giving  effective  study  to 
the  same  question.  The  Lutheran  Minister's  Asso- 
ciation is  represented  on  both  these  committees. 

The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America,  representing  thirty  denominations  and  a 
communicant  membership  of  eighteen  millions, 
through  its  Commission  on  Christian  Education  is 


author  presented  a  paper  on  Week-day  Religious  Instruc- 
tion. Its  main  proposition  was  favorably  received,  and  the 
foUowing  resolution  was  adopted   by   the  Conference: 

"Resolved,  that  in  the  need  of  more  systematic  education 
in  religion,  we  recommend  for  the  favorable  consideration 
of  the  Public  School  authorities  of  the  country  the  pro- 
posal to  allow  the  children  to  absent  themselves  without 
detriment  from  the  public  schools  on  Wednesday  or  on 
some  other  afternoon  of  the  school  week  for  the  purpose 
of  attending  religious  instruction  in  their  own  churches: 
and  we  urge  upon  the  churches  the  advisability  of  avail- 
ing themselves  of  the  opportunity  so  granted  to  give  such 
instruction   in   addition   to   that  given   on   Sunday. 

The  further  consideration  of  the  subject  was  referred 
to  the  Executive  Committee.  By  direction  of  this  Com- 
mittee a  report  on  Week-day  Instruction  In  Religion  was 
presented  at  the  First  Meeting  of  the  Federal  Council  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  held  in  Philadelphia  in 
1908.  After  an  earnest  discussion,  resolutions  were  adopt- 
ed indicating  the  importance  which  the  representatives 
of  the  churches  of  America  attached  to  the  general  ques- 

At  the  Second  Meeting  of  the  Federal  Council,  held  In 
Chicago  in  December,  1912,  the  Special  Committee  of  the 
Federal  Council  presented  a  report  recognizing  the  diffi- 
culties confronting  an  adequate  solution  of  the  question 
and  providing  for  a  more  thorough  investigation  and  dls- 
cussion  of  the  entire  subject." 
In  his  report  for  1909   (Vol.  I,  page  5),  the  United  States 

Commissioner    of    Education,    Dr.    Elmer    Ellsworth    Brown. 

refers  to  this  subject  in  the  following  words: 

"Those  who  would  maintain  that  the  moral  life  has  other 

roofings   than    that    in    religion,    would,    for    the    most    part, 

admit  that  it  is  deeply  rooted  in  religion,  and  that  for  many 

110 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

making  a  large  contribution  to  the  study  of  the 
problem. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  its  General 
Convention  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
its  General  Conference  have  made  provision  through 
appropriate  committees  for  the  study  and  promotion 
of  the  subject  of  week-day  instruction  in  religion. 

The  Jewish  Community  (Kehillah)  is  doing  work 
far  exceeding  anything  that  Christians  have  done  in 
the  way  of  religious  education.  It  has  established 
181  schools  of  religion,  for  children  in  attendance  at 
the  public  schools,  in  which  40,000  children  are  en- 
rolled. In  other  forms  instruction  in  religion  is 
given  to  25,000  children.  Thus  out  of  275,000  Jew- 
ish children  in  the  public  schools  23.5  per  cent,  re- 
ceive week-day  instruction  in  religion.  Energetic 
efforts  are  made  to  reach  the  remaining  210,000.  The 
pupils  have  from  one  to  four  periods  each  week,  af- 
ter school  hours,  each  period  lasting  from  one  to  two 
hours.     The  total  sum  annually    expended   by   the 


of  our  people  its  strongest  motives  are  to  be  found  in  their 
religious  convictions;  that  many,  in  fact,  would  regard  It 
as  insufficiently  grounded  and  nourished  without  such  re- 
ligious convictions.  The  teaching  of  religious  systems  is  no 
longer  under  serious  consideration  as  far  as  our  public 
schools  are  concerned.  Historical  and  social  influences  have 
drawn  a  definite  line  in  this  country  between  the  public 
schools  and  the  churches,  leaving  the  rights  and  responsi- 
bilities of  religious  instruction  to  the  latter.  It  would  be 
futile,  even  if  it  were  desirable,  to  attempt  to  revise  this 
decision  of  the  American  people.  There  has  been,  however, 
within  the  past  two  or  three  years,  a  widespread  discus- 
.•^ion  of  the  proposal  that  arrangements  be  made  between 
the  educational  authorities  and  ecclesiastical  organizations, 
under  which  pupils  should  be  excused  from  the  schools  for 
one  half-day  in  the  week — Wednesday  afternoon  has  been 
suggested — in  order  that  they  may  in  that  time  receive 
religious  and  moral  instruction  in  their  several  churches 
This  proposal  has  been  set  forth  in  detail  in  a  volume  en- 
titled "Religious  Education  and  the  Public  School,"  and 
has  been  under  consideration  by  a  representative  committee 
during  the  past  two  or  three  years." 

Ill 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Jews  for  week-day  instruction  in  religion  is  approxi- 
mately $1,400,000. 

From  "The  Jewish  Communal  Register  of  New 
York  City,  1917-1918,  we  quote  as  follows: 

"In  the  typical  week  day  school,  the  number  of  hours 
of  instruction  given  to  each  child  varies  from  QVz  hours 
in  the  lowest  grade  to  9  V2  hours  in  the  seventh  or  high- 
est  grade The   total  teaching  staff  consists  of   615 

teachers,  of  whom  about  23  per  cent,  are  women.  The 
salary  of  teachers  ranges  from  $300  to  $1,200  per  year. 
The  average  salary  is  $780  annually  for  22  hours'  work 
during  the  week." 

The  Jews  ask  for  no  concession  of  time  from  the 
public  school.  They  seem  to  have  physical  and  in- 
tellectual vigor  enabling  them  to  utilize,  for  the 
study  of  religion,  hours  which  Christian  children  re- 
quire for  rest  and  recreation. 

Lutherans  hold  that  it  is  the  function  of  the 
church  to  provide  instruction  in  religion  for  its  chil- 
dren. "What  are  the  Lutherans  of  New  York  doing 
to  maintain  this  thesis?  Over  40,000  children  of  en- 
rolled Lutheran  families  obtain  no  instruction  in  re- 
ligion except  that  which  is  given  in  the  Sunday 
School  and  in  the  belated  and  abbreviated  hours  of 
catechetical  instruction. 

A  movement  is  now  going  on  in  this  city  and 
throughout  the  United  States  aiming  at  a  restoration 
of  religious  education  to  the  functions  of  the  church. 
For  the  sake  of  our  children  ought  we  not  heartily  to 
cooperate  with  a  movement  which  so  truly  repre- 
bents  the  principles  for  which  we  stand?  It  will 
require  a  considerable  addition  to  the  teaching  force 
of  our  churches.  It  will  mean  an  expensive  recon- 
struction of  our  schoolrooms.  It  will  cost  money. 
But  it  will  be  worth  while. 

112 


The  Problem  of  Lapsed  Lutherans 

There  are  four  hundred  thousand  lapsed  Luther- 
ans in  New  York,  nearly  three  times  as  many  as  en- 
rolled members  of  the  churches. 

A  lapsed  Lutheran  is  one  who  was  once  a  mem- 
ber, but  for  some  reason  has  slipped  the  cable  that 
connected  him  with  the  church.  He  still  claims  to 
be  a  Lutheran  but  he  is  not  enrolled  as  a  member  of 
a  particular  congregation. 

Most  lapsed  Lutherans  are  of  foreign  origin.  From 
figures  compiled  by  Dr.  Laidlaw  (see  "Federation," 
Vol.  6,  No.  4),  we  obtain  the  number  of  Protestants 
of  foreign  origin,  enumerated  according  to  the 
country  of  birth  of  parents,  one  parent  or  both.  The 
number  of  Lutherans  we  obtain  by  subtracting  from 
the  "Protestants"  the  estimated  number  of  non- 
Lutherans.    Thus : 

Protestants  Lutherans 

Norway  33,344    —     10%   =  30,010 

Sweden  56,766     —     10%   =  51,090 

Denmark 11,996     —     10%  =  10,797 

Finland  10,304    —    10%=    9,274 

Germany  486,252    —     20%  =389,002 

Austria-Hungary  ..   27,680    —    80%   =     5,535 
Russia*  15,000    —    20%  =  12,000 


507,708 


*Many   of   the   Lutherans    who    have   come   to    us    of   late 
113 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


That  is,  the  estimated  number  of  Lutherans  of  for- 
eign origin,  counting  only  the  chief  countries  from 
which  they  emigrate  to  America,  is  507,708. 

But  we  also  have  Lutherans  here  who  are  not  of 
foreign  origin.  Lutherans  have  lived  in  New  York 
from  the  beginning  of  its  history.  Its  first  houses 
were  built  by  Heinrich  Christiansen,  who  certainly 
had  a  Lutheran  name.  The  Lutherans  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries,  it  is  true,  left  no 
descendants  to  be  enrolled  in  our  church  books. 
These  are  to  be  found  in  goodly  numbers  in  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  and  other  churches  where  they  oc- 
cupy the  seats  of  the  mighty.  It  is  too  late  to  get 
them  back. 

But  in  the  nineteenth  century  we  collected  new 
congregations.  There  are  many  Lutherans  whose 
grandparents  at  least  were  born  in  New  York.  Be- 
sides, there  has  been  a  large  influx  from  the  Hudson 
and  Mohawk  valleys,  from  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  the 
South  and  the  West.  A  moderate  estimate  of  these 
immigrants  from  the  country  and  of  those  who  un- 
der the  grandfather  clause  claim  to  be  unhyphenated 
Americans,  members  or  non-members  of  our  church- 
es, is  40,000. 

Add  to  these  the  Lutherans  of  foreign  origin  and 
we  have  in  round  numbers  a  Lutheran  population  of 
more  than  547,000  souls. 

Turning  now  to  the  statistical  tables  in  the  Ap- 
pendix we  find  that  the  number  of  souls  reported  in 


years  from  Russia,  Austro-Hungary  and  other  countries  of 
South  Eastern  Europe,  are  the  descendants  of  German  Luth- 
erans who  in  the  eighteenth  century  accepted  the  invitation 
of  Katharine  the  Second  and  Marie  Theresia  to  settle  In 
their  dominions.  Others  are  members  of  various  races  from 
the  Baltic  Provinces. 

114 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  LAPSED  LUTHERANS 

our  churches  is  140,957.  Subtract  these  from  the 
total  Lutheran  population  and  we  have  a  deficit  of 
over  400,000  souls,  lapsed  Lutherans,  the  subject  of 
the  present  chapter.  Quod  erat  demonstrandum. 
"While  this  is  a  large  number,  it  is  a  moderate  esti- 
mate. An  addition  of  20  per  cent,  would  not  be 
excessive. 

How  shall  we  account  for  this  deficit? 

Of  the  Americans  a  large  number  are  the  children 
of  our  New  York  churches,  the  product  of  our  super- 
ficial catechetical  system.  No  study  of  the  subject 
io  complete  that  does  not  take  account  of  this  seri- 
ous defect.  No  cure  will  be  effective  until  we  have 
learned  to  take  better  care  of  our  children. 

Native  Americans  from  the  country,  members  of 
Lutheran  churches  in  their  former  homes,  have  no 
excuse  if  they  do  not  find  a  Lutheran  church  when 
they  come  to  New  York.  In  years  gone  by  English 
churches  were  scarce,  but  now  they  are  to  be  found 
in  every  part  of  the  city.  In  part  at  least,  the  home 
pastors  are  responsible.  When  their  people  remove 
to  New  York  they  ought  to  be  supplied  with  letters, 
and  the  New  York  pastors  should  be  notified.  In  fifty 
years  I  have  not  received  twenty-five  letters  from 
my  country  brethren  asking  me  to  look  after  their 
wandering  sheep. 

For  the  foreign  Lutherans  who  have  failed  to  com- 
nect  with  the  church,  three  reasons  may  be  given : 

1.  Ignorance.  Not  ignorance  in  general,  but  ig- 
norance in  regard  to  church  conditions  in  America. 
They  come  from  National  churches  where  their  re- 
lation to  the  church  does  not  require  much  personal 
initiative.    They  belong  to  the  church  by  virtue  of 

115 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


their  baptism  and  confirmation.  Their  contributions 
to  its  maintenance  are  included  in  the  general  tax 
levy. 

Arrived  in  New  York  where  Church  and  State  are 
separate,  a  long  time  may  pass  before  any  one  cares 
for  the  soul  of  the  immigrant.  Our  pastors  are  busy 
with  their  routine  work  and  seldom  look  after  the 
new  comers,  unless  the  new  comers  look  after  them. 
The  latter  soon  become  reconciled  to  a  situation 
which  accords  with  the  inclinations  of  the  natural 
man.  Ignorance  of  American  church  conditions  ac- 
counts for  the  slipping  away  of  many  of  our  foreign 
brethren  from  the  fellowship  of  the  church. 

2.  Indifference.  Many  foreigners  who  come  here 
are  merely  indifferent  to  the  claims  of  religion. 
Others  are  distinctly  hostile  toward  the  church.  Most 
of  the  Socialistic  movements  of  continental  Europe, 
because  of  the  close  association  of  Church  and  State, 
fail  to  discriminate  between  their  respective  ideas. 
Thy  condemn  the  former  for  the  sins  of  the  latter. 

3.  Infidelity.  A  materialistic  philosophy  has  un- 
dermined the  Christian  conception  of  life  and  the 
world,  and  multitudes  of  those  who  were  nominally 
connected  with  the  church  have  long  since  repudi- 
ated the  teachings  of  Christianity. 

It  is  a  tremendous  problem  that  confronts  us,  the 
evangelization  of  four  hundred  thousand  Lutherans. 
If  for  no  other  reason,  because  of  its  magnitude  and 
because  of  its  appeal  to  our  denominational  respon- 
sibility, it  is  a  problem  worth  solving.  But  it  is  a 
challenge  to  our  Christianity  and  it  should  stimulate 
»s  to  an  intense  study  of  its  possible  solution. 

Ministers  can  contribute  much  toward  its  solution. 

116 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  LAPSED  LUTHERANS 

It  is  true  our  hands  are  full  and  more  than  full  with 
the  ordinary  care  of  our  flocks.  But  our  office  con- 
stantly brings  us  into  association  with  this  large 
outer  fringe  of  our  congregations  at  times  when 
their  hearts  are  responsive  to  anything  that  we  may 
have  to  say.  We  meet  them  at  weddings  and  at  fu- 
nerals. "We  baptize  their  children  and  we  bury  their 
dead.  Once  in  a  while  some  of  them  even  come  to 
church.  In  spite  of  all  their  w^anderings  and  intel- 
lectual idiosyncrasies  they  still  claim  to  be  Chris- 
tians. And  whatever  their  own  attitude  toward 
Christianity  may  be,  there  are  few  who  do  not  desire 
CO  have  their  children  brought  up  in  the  Christian 
faith.    We  have  before  us  an  open  door. 

The  churches  can  do  more  than  they  are  doing 
now  to  win  these  lapsed  Lutherans.  Some  people 
are  kept  out  of  church  through  no  fault  of  their  own. 
For  example,  the  rented  pew  system,  still  in  vogue 
in  some  congregations,  is  an  effective  means  of  bar- 
ring out  visitors.  Few  care  to  force  themselves  into 
the  precincts  of  a  private  club  even  if  it  bears  the 
name  of  a  church. 

A  pecuniary  method  of  effecting  friendly  relations 
is  not  without  its  merits.  In  this  city  of  frequent 
removals  there  are  many  families  who  have  lost  all 
connection  with  the  congregation  to  which  they 
claim  to  belong.  An  opportunity  to  contribute  to 
the  church  of  their  new  neighborhood  might  be  for 
them  a  secondary  means  of  grace.  They  become  as 
it  were  proselytes  of  the  gate.  Having  taken  the 
first  step,  many  may  again  enter  into  full  communion 
with  the  church. 

A  Lutheran  church,  however,  does  not  forget  the 

117 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


warning  of  the  prophet:  **They  have  healed  the 
hurt  of  my  daughter  slightly."  The  evangelization 
of  this  great  army  of  lapsed  Lutherans  is  not  to  be 
accomplished  by  such  a  simple  expedient  as  taking 
up  a  collection.  What  most  of  them  need  is  a  return 
to  the  faith.    Somebody  must  guide  them. 

For  this  no  societies  or  new  ecclesiastical  machin- 
ery will  be  required.  The  force  to  do  this  work  is 
already  enlisted  in  the  communicant  membership  of 
our  one  hundred  and  fifty  organized  congregations. 
We  have  approximately  60,000  communicants.  These 
are  our  under-shepherds  whose  business  it  is  to  aid 
the  pastor  in  searching  for  *'the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel.'*  Shall  we  not  have  a  concerted  ef- 
fort on  the  part  of  all  the  churches? 

We  may  certainly  win  back  again  into  our  com- 
munion many  of  whom  the  Good  Shepherd  was 
speaking  when  He  said:  "them  also  I  must  bring 
and  they  shall  hear  my  voice,  and  they  shall  become 
one  flock,  one  shepherd." 

To  accomplish  such  a  task,  however,  an  orderly 
system  must  be  adopted. 

When  our  Lord  fed  the  five  thousand,  He  first 
commanded  them  to  sit  down  by  companies.  "And 
they  sat  down  in  ranks,  by  hundreds  and  by  fifties. ' ' 
These  400,000  souls  may  first  of  all  be  grouped  in 
families.  Let  us  say  90,000  families.  These  are  scat- 
tered all  over  the  greater  city,  most  of  them  in  close 
proximity  to  some  one  of  our  150  churches.  To  each 
church  may  be  given  an  average  assignment  of  600 
families. 

The  average  number  of  communicants  in  each  of 
our  churches  is  nearly  400.      Some  churches  have 

118 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  LAPSED  LUTHERANS 

less,  others  more.  To  an  average  company  of  400 
communicants  is  committed  the  task  of  evangelizing 
600  families,  not  aliens  or  strangers,  but  members 
of  our  own  household  of  faith,  people  who  in  many 
cases  will  heartily  welcome  the  invitation.  Some  of 
these  400  potential  evangelists  will  beg  to  be  ex- 
cused. Let  us  make  a  selective  draft  of  300  to  do 
the  work.  The  task  required  of  each  member  of  this 
army  is  to  visit  two  families. 

Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  such  a  computation 
it  certainly  does  not  present  an  insuperable  task.  It 
can  be  done  in  one  year,  in  one  month,  in  one  week, 
in  one  day. 

Without  presuming  to  insist  upon  a  particular 
method  of  solving  this  problem,  is  it  not  incumbent 
upon  the  Lutheran  churches  of  New  York  to  face  it 
with  the  determination  to  accomplish  an  extraordi- 
nary work  if  need  be  in  an  extraordinary  manner? 
*'The  kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence  and  the 
violent  take  it  by  force." 

Seventy  j^ears  ago  a  great  company  of  Christian 
men  met  in  the  old  Luther  town  of  Wittenberg  to 
consider  the  needs  of  the  Fatherland.  It  was  the 
year  of  the  Revolution.  It  w^s  a  time  of  political 
confusion  and  of  desperate  spiritual  need.  It  was 
then  that  Wichern,  in  an  address  of  impassioned  elo- 
quence, pointed  the  way  toward  the  mobilization  of 
all  Christians  in  a  campaign  of  spiritual  service. 

He  was  directed  to  prepare  the  program.  It  ap- 
peared in  1849  under  the  title  ''Die  Innere  Mission." 

It  was  a  clarion  call  to  personal  service  and  it  met 
with  an  immediate  and  remarkable  response.     The 

119 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


movement  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
church. 

Because  the  Inner  Mission  lends  itself  in  a  pe- 
culiar way  to  works  of  charity  it  is  often  regarded 
as  synonymous  with  the  care  of  the  helpless  and 
afflicted.  In  this  use  of  the  term  we  lose  sight 
of  the  larger  meaning  and  scope  of  the  work  which 
has  made  it  one  of  the  great  religious  forces  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  It  should  therefore  be  more  ac- 
curately described  as  that  movement  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  which,  recognizing  the  alienation  of 
multitudes  within  the  church  from  the  Christian 
faith  and  life,  appeals  to  all  disciples  of  Christ  by 
all  means  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  men  of  all  classes 
who  have  strayed  away  and  to  gather  them  into  the 
communion  and  confession  of  the  church.  It  is  a 
mission  within  the  church  and  hence  bears  the  name 
of  Inner  Mission. 

Such  a  call  comes  to  us  at  a  time  when  we  are  con- 
fronted with  a  problem  which  almost  staggers  the 
imagination  and  when  we  are  offered  an  opportunity 
such  as  no  other  Protestant  church  enjoys. 


120 


The  Problem  of  Statistics 

The  word  statistics,  according  to  the  Century  Dic- 
tionary, refers  not  merely  to  a  collection  of  num- 
bers, but  it  comprehends  also  "all  those  topics  of 
inquiry  which  interest  the  statesman."  The  dignity 
thus  given  to  the  subject  is  enhanced  by  a  secondary 
definition  which  calls  it  "the  science  of  human  so- 
ciety, so  far  as  deduced  from  enumerations." 

No  branch  of  human  activity  can  be  studied  in 
our  day  without  the  use  of  statistics.  Statesmen 
and  sociologists  make  a  careful  study  of  figures  be- 
fore they  attempt  to  formulate  laws  or  policies. 

For  church  statistics  we  are  chiefly  dependent 
upon  the  tables  of  the  Synodical  Minutes.  The  orig- 
inal source  of  our  information  is  the  pastor's  report 
of  his  particular  congregation.  Unfortunately  the 
value  of  these  tables  is  greatly  impaired  by  the  ab- 
sence of  a  common  standard  of  membership. 

The  New  York  Ministerium  has  no  column  for 
** communicant"  members.  There  is  a  column  for 
** contributing"  members,  but  these  do  not  necessar- 
ily mean  communicants.  Among  the  records  of  Min- 
isterial Acts,  such  as  marriages  and  funerals,  there 
is  also  a  column  for  "Kommuniziert."  But  even  if 
the  Holy  Communion  were  to  be  classed  among  Min- 
isterial Acts,  it  sometimes  happens  that  others  be- 
sides members  partake  of  the  communion.  The  term 
"Kommuniziert"  therefore  does  not  convey  definite 

121 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


information  on  the  subject  of  communicant  member- 
ship. For  example,  a  congregation  with  160  **  con- 
tributing members"  reports  770  "Kommuniziert." 
It  is  hardly  conceivable  that  out  of  770  communicant 
members  only  160  are  contributing  members  and 
that  610  communicants  are  non-contributors.  Other- 
wise there  would  seem  to  be  room  for  improvement 
in  another  direction  besides  statistics. 

The  New  York  Ministerium  also  has  no  column 
for  ** souls,"  that  is,  for  all  baptized  persons,  includ- 
ing children,  connected  with  the  congregation.  There 
are  also  many  blanks,  and  many  figures  that  look  like 
*' round  numbers."  For  thirty  years  I  have  tried  in 
vain  to  comprehend  its  statistics.  Hinc  illae  lacrymae. 

The  Missouri  Synod  has  three  membership  rubrics : 
souls,  communicant  members,  voting  members.  When 
however,  a  congregation  of  900  communicants  re- 
ports only  80  voting  members,  one  wonders  whether 
some  of  the  820  non-voters  ought  not  be  admitted  to 
the  right  of  suffrage.  The  congregational  system 
favors  democracy.  It  should  be  remembered  also 
that  the  laws  of  the  State  define  the  right  to  vote  at 
a  church  election. 

The  Synod  of  New  York  has  three  membership 
rubrics :  Communicants,  Confirmed,  Baptized.  The 
first  includes  all  members  who  actually  commune 
within  a  year.  The  second  adds  to  the  communi- 
cants all  others  who  are  entitled  to  commune  even 
if  they  neglect  the  privilege.  The  third  adds  to  the 
preceding  class  baptized  children  and  all  other  bap- 
tized persons  in  any  way  related  to  the  congrega- 
tion, provided  they  have  not  been  formally  excom- 
municated. 


122 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  STATISTICS 


The  Swedish  Angustana  Sjmod  has  three  rubrics : 
Communicants,  Children,  Total.  ''Communicants" 
may  or  may  not  be  enrolled  members  of  the  congre- 
gation. This  classification  therefore  is  neither  com- 
prehensive nor  exhaustive  and  may  account  in  part 
for  the  discrepancy  between  the  number  of  Lutheran 
Swedes  in  New  York  and  the  number  enrolled  in 
the  Swedish  Lutheran  Churches. 

None  of  the  sjmodical  reports  take  note  of  "fam- 
ilies." Pastors  seldom  speak  of  their  membership  in 
terms  of  families.  In  the  book  of  Jeremiah  (31,  1) 
we  are  told:  ''At  the  same  time,  saith  the  Lord,  will 
I  be  the  God  of  all  the  families  of  Israel,  and  they 
shall  be  my  people."  The  captions  of  the  five  parts 
of  Luther's  Small  Catechism  proceed  upon  the  as- 
sumption of  the  family  as  a  unit.  It  is  true  we  are 
living  in  an  age  of  disrupted  families,  but  it  would 
seem  that  some  recognition  of  the  family  should  be 
made  in  the  statistical  tables  of  the  Christian  Church, 
especially  when  in  the  families  with  which  we  have 
to  do,  most  of  the  individuals  are  baptized  members 
of  the  church  and  have  not  been  formally  excom- 
municated. Until,  therefore,  we  agree  upon  a  com- 
mon standard,  our  figures  will  be  the  despair  of  the 
statisticians.  A  reformation  must  come.  Without  it 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  formulate  needed  policies  of 
church  extension. 

In  view  of  the  complicated  character  of  our  mem- 
bership it  will  not  be  an  easy  task  to  reconstruct  our 
statistical  methods.  But  it  is  evident  that  our  mis- 
sionary and  evangelistic  work  will  be  greatly  fur- 
thered when  we  have  exact  information  in  regard  to 
our  parochial  material.    Our  figures  should  include 

123 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


every  soul,  man,  woman  and  child,  in  any  way  re- 
lated to  our  congregations,  classified  in  such  a  way 
as  to  show  clearly  in  what  relation  they  stand  to 
the  church.  A  church  that  does  not  count  its  mem- 
bers as  carefully  as  a  bank  counts  its  dollars  is  in 
danger  of  bankruptcy. 

Church  bookkeeping  ought  to  be  taught  in  the 
Theological  Seminary.  But  if  the  pastor  himself  is 
not  a  good  bookkeeper,  almost  every  congregation 
has  young  men  or  young  women  who  are  experts  in 
this  art,  who  could  render  good  service  to  the  church 
by  keeping  its  membership  rolls. 

Complete  records  are  especially  necessary  in  our 
great  city  with  its  constant  removals  and  changes  of 
population.  The  individual  is  like  the  proverbial 
needle  in  the  haystack,  unless  we  adopt  a  method  of 
accounting  not  only  for  each  family  but  for  each 
individual  down  to  the  latest-bom  child.* 

When  important  records,  such  as  synodical  min- 
utes, are  printed,  several  copies  at  least  should  be 
printed  on  durable  paper  and  deposited  in  public 
libraries  where  they  may  be  consulted  by  the  his- 
torian. Ordinary  paper  is  perishable.  Within  a  few 
years  it  will  crumble  to  dust.  The  records  might 
as  well  be  written  on  sand  so  far  as  their  value  for 
future  historians  is  concerned. 

Congregational  histories,  pamphlets  or  bound  vol- 

*In  order  that  I  may  not  be  as  one  that  beateth  the  air, 
I  venture  to  suggest  a  method  of  laying  the  foundation  of 
records  that  has  been  helpful  in  my  own  work.  I  send  to 
each  family  a  "Family  Register"  blank  with  spaces  for  the 
name,  birthday  and  place  of  birth  of  each  member  of  the 
family.  The  information  thus  obtained  is  transferred  to 
a  card  catalogue  in  which  the  additional  relation  of  each 
Individual  to  the  church  and  its  work  is  noted.  In  this  way, 
or  by  means  of  a  loose-leaf  record  book,  available  and  up- 
to-date   information   can   easily   be   kept. 

124 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  STATISTICS 


umes,  jubilee  volumes  and  similar  contributions  to 
local  church  history  should  be  sent  to  the  public 
libraries  of  the  city  and  of  the  denominational 
schools. 

In  search  of  recent  information  the  author  con- 
sulted the  card  index  of  the  New  York  Public  Lib- 
rary. He  found  only  nine  cards  relating  to  Luth- 
eran churches.  And  yet  we  wonder  why  our  church 
is  not  better  known  in  this  city. 


X25 


EPILOGUE 


EPILOGUE 

One  seldom  finds  an  epilogue  in  a  book  nowadays. 
Its  purpose  in  the  drama  was  to  explain  to  the  audi- 
ence the  meaning  of  the  play.  It  does  not  speak  well 
for  a  writer  if  the  people  miss  the  point  of  his  essay. 
But  it  is  just  like  a  preacher  to  say  something  "in 
conclusion"  to  secure,  if  possible,  the  hesitating  as- 
sent of  some  hearer. 

We  have  reached  the  20th  century.  "We  are  look- 
ing back  upon  270  years  of  history  on  Manhattan 
Island.  What  we  have  done  and  what  we  have  left 
undone  is  recorded  in  the  stereotyped  pages  of  an 
unchanging  past.  Our  successes  and  our  failures  are 
the  chapters  from  which  we  may  learn  lessons  for 
the  future.  The  gates  of  that  future  are  open  to 
us  now. 

Where  Arensius  and  Falckner  ministered  to  a  fee- 
ble flock  under  inconceivable  difficulties,  there  is 
built  the  greatest,  certainly  the  largest,  city  of  the 
world.  From  all  the  races  and  tongues  of  the  earth 
men  are  gathering  here  to  solve  the  problems  of  their 
lives.  From  Lutheran  lands  fifty  myriads  have  al- 
ready come  and  are  living  within  our  walls.  Con- 
sciously or  otherwise  they  appeal  to  us,  their  breth- 
ren in  the  faith,  for  that  religious  fellowship  for 
which  every  man  sometimes  longs.     If  we  do  not 

129 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


respond,  who  shall  interpret  for  them  the  religious 
life  and  questions  of  the  new  world? 

From  these  Lutheran  lands,  from  Scandinavia  to 
the  Balkan  peninsula,  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Ural 
Mountains,  other  myriads  will  come  in  the  long  years 
that  will  follow  the  war.  New  history  is  sure  to  be 
written  for  Europe  and  America.  What  shall  be  our 
contribution  to  its  unwritten  pages? 

In  solving  the  problems  that  confront  us  we  shall 
at  the  same  time  help  to  solve  the  problems  of  our 
city  and  of  our  country.  The  simple  faith  and  the 
catholic  principles  of  our  church  should  secure  for 
us  a  wide  field  of  useful  and  effective  service. 


130 


APPENDIX 


Abbreviations 

Synods— Mm.,  Ministerium  of  New  York;  Mo.,  Missouri; 
N.  Y.,  New  York ;  N.  E.,  New  York  and  New  England ;  Aug., 
Swedish  Augustana ;  Nor.,  Norwegian ;  Fin.,  National  Church 
of  Finland;  Pa.,  Pennsylvania;  O.,  Ohio;  D.,  Danish;  Suo., 
Suomi  (Finnish)  ;  U.D.,  United  Danish;  Ap.,  Apostolic  (Fin- 
nish) :  NN.,  National  Church  of  Norway. 

Languages— G.,  German ;  E.,  English ;  S.,  Swedish ;  N.,  Nor- 
wegian; F.,  Finnish;  D.,  Danish;  SI.,  Slovak,  Bohemian  and 
Magyar;  Let.,  Lettish;  Est.,  Esthonian;  Pol,  Polish;  Y., 
Yiddish;  It.,  Italian;  Lith.,  Lithuanian. 

Heads  of  Statistical- Columns — Lang.,  Language;  Date,  Date 
of  Organization ;  Syn.,  Synodical  connection  of  congregation 
or  pastor;  Comm.,  Number  of  communicants;  Souls,  Number 
of  baptized  persons  related  to  the  congregation ;  Syn.,  Synod- 
ical connection  of  pastor  or  congregation;  P.  S.,  Pupils  in 
Parochial  School;  S.  S.,  Pupils  in  Sunday  School;  W.  S., 
Pupils  receiving  instruction  in  religion  on  weekdays;  Prop., 
Net  value  of  real  estate  in  terms  of  a  thousand  dollars. 

Signs — *  Missions ;  (  )  Estimated  number ; — No  report  or 
nothing  to  report. 


133 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


The  Lutheran  Churches 

Manhattan 

Name  and  Location  Pastor        Lang.  Org.Syn. 

1.  St.  Matthew.  421  W.  145th O.  Sieker G.  E.  1669  Mo. 

2.  St,  James,  904  Madison  Av J.  B.  Remensnyder.E.  1827  N.  Y- 

3.  St.  Paul,  313  W.  22nd L.  Koenig G.  1841  Min. 

4.  Trinity,  139  Av.  B O.  Graesser G.  1843  Mo. 

5.  St.  Mark,  327  Sixth  St G.  C.  F.  Haas G.  1847  Min. 

6.  St.  Luke,  233  W.  42nd W.  Koepchen G.  E.  1850  Mo. 

7.  St.  John,  81  Christopher F.  E.  Oberiander. .  .G.  E.  1855  N.  Y. 

8.  St.  Peter,  54th  at  Lex.  Av A.  B.  Moldenke. . .  .G.  E.  1862  Min. 

9.  Immanuel,  88th  at  Lex.  Av W.  F.  Schoenfeld.  .<.  .  E.  1863  Mo. 

10.  St.  John,  219  E.  119th H.  C.  Steup G.  E.  1864  Mo. 

11.  St.  Paul.  147  W.  123rd F.H.Bosch G.  E.  1864  Min. 

12.  GustavusAdolphus,  151  E.  22nd. M.  Stolpe S.  E.  1865  Aug. 

13.  Holy  Trinity,  1  W.  65th C.J.Smith E.  1868  N.  E. 

14.  Christ,  406  E.  19th G.  U.  VVenner G.  E.  1868  N.  Y. 

15.  Epiphany,  72  E.  128th M.  L.  Canup E.  1880  N.  E. 

16.  Grace,  123  W.  71st J.  A.  Weyl G.  E.  1886  Min. 

17.  Trinity.  164  W.  100th E.  Brennecke G.  E.  1888  Min. 

18.  Zion,  341  E.  84th W.  Popcke G.  E.  1892  N.  Y. 

19.  Harlem,  32  W.  126th '. . .  .A.  F.  Borgendahl.  .8.  E.  1894  Aug. 

20.  Washington  Heights.  W.  153rd.... C.  B.  Rabbow G.  E.  1895  Min. 

21.  Redeemer.  422  W.  44th F.  C.  G.  Schumm.  .E.  1895  Mo. 

22.  Our  Saviour,  237  E.  123rd J.  C.  Gram N.  E.  1896  Nor. 

23.  Atonement.  Edgecombe  at  140th .  F.  H.  Knubel E.  1896  N.  Y. 

24.  Advent.  Broadway  at  93rd A.  Steimle E.  1897  N.  E. 

25.  Our  Saviour,  Audubon  at  179th..  A.  S.  Hardy E.  1898  N.  Y. 

26.  Finnish,  72  E.  128th K.  Makinen F.  1903  Fin. 

27.  Holy  Trinity.  334  E.  20th L.  A.  Engler SI.  1904   — 

28.  Esthonian.  217  E.  119th C.  Klemmer Est.  1904  Mo. 

29.  Polish.  233  W.  42nd S.  Nicolaiski Pol.  1907  Mo. 

30.  Messiah.  10th  Av.  at  207th F.  W.  Hassenflug .  .  E.  G.  1916  Mo. 

31.  Lettish.  *327  Sixth  St P.  E.  Steik Let Pa. 

32.  Italiari,  *  A.  Bongarzone It.  Mo. 

33.  Yiddish,  +250  E.  101st N.  Friedmann Y Mo. 

84.  Deaf  *233  W.  42nd A.  Boll E.  G Mo. 


134 


CHURCHES  OF  MANHATTAN 


of  New  York 

Manhattan 


Comm.  Souls 

1 500  1.122 

2 205  (331) 

3 300  (375) 

4 525  674 

5 200  (500) 

6 1.012  (2,000) 

7 350  1.000 

8 911  3.000 

9 1.500  6.000 

10 750  1.500 

11 1,000  1.500 

12 1,015  2,000 

13 450  (800) 

14 250  S17 

15 400  700 

16 803  1,000 

17 785  2,500 

IS 1,250  4.807 

19 233  336 

20 700  1,100 

21 260  400 

22 210  300 

23 410  3,500 

24 503  962 

25 106  554 

20 450  2.000 

27 700  1,000 

28 50  200 

29 100  300 

30 120 

31 

32 10  27 

33 

34 40  60 

Totals 15,978  41,485 


P.S. 

126 


92 

85 

115 

75 


55 


S.S. 
365 

80 

75 

41 

55 
350 
333 
556 
500 
25^1 
500 
250 
150 
152 
190 
260 
422 
1,120 
125 
250 
120 

62 
544 
163 
194 

40 


65 


R.H. 
40 
12 
40 
34 
55 

172 
39 
47 
61 
41 

130 
37 
12 

100 
24 
54 

112 

124 

21 

30 

22 

5 

250 
22 
24 
25 
40 


20 


Prop. 

(100) 

380 

140 

75 

70 

340 

85 

250 

178 

40 

120 

172 

275 

65 

39 

80 

85 

112 

10 

75 

(20) 

35 

125 

218 

26 

45 


7,245 


1.580 


3,160 


135 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Bronx 


Pastor       Lang. 

.T.  O.  Posselt G.  E. 

.W.  T.  Junge G. 

.G.  H.  Tappert G.  E. 

.O.  C.  Mees E.  G. 


Name  and  Location 

1.  St.  John.  1343  Fulton  Av 

2.  St.  Matthew,  376  E.  156th. . 

3.  St.  Paul.  79G  E.  156th 

4.  St.  Peter.  4.39  E.  140th 

5.  St.  Stephen,  1001  Union  Av P.  Roesener G. 

6.  St.  Peter,  739  E.  219th F.  Noeldeke G. 

7.  Immanuel,  1410  Vyse  Av I.  Tharaldsen N. 

8.  Bethany,  582  Teasdale  PI J.  Gruver E. 

9.  St.  Luke,  1724  Adams VL  Rohde G.  E. 

10.  St.  Paul,  LaFontaine  at  178th K.  Kretzmann E.  G. 

11.  Holy  Trinity.  881  E.  167th F.  Lindemann E. 

12.  Emmanuel,  Brown  PI.  at  137th.  .P.  M.  Young E. 

13.  Trinity,  1179  Hoe  Av A.  C.  Kildegaard..  .D. 

14.  Grace,  239  E.  199th A.  Koerber E. 

15.  Heiland,  187th  &  Valentine  Av. . .  H.  von  Hollen G. 

16.  Concordia,  Oak  Terrace H.  Pottberg G.  E. 

17.  Messiah,  Brook  A  v.  at  144th J.  Johnson :  S. 

18.  St.  Thomas.  Topping  at  175th. .  .A.  J.  Traver E. 

19.  Holy  Comforter,  1060  Woodycrest. J.  H.  Dudde E. 

20.  St.  Mark,  Martha  at  242nd O.  H.  Trinklein  . . .  .E. 

21.  St.  John,  Oak  Terrace J.  Gullans S.  E. 

22.  Trinity,  1519  Castle  Hill  Av Paul  G.  Sander E.  G. 

23.  Fordham,  2430  Walton  Av F.  H.  Meyer E.  G. 


Org.  Syn. 

I860  Min. 
1862  Min. 
1882  Min. 
1893  O. 

1893  Mo. 

1894  Min. 

1895  Nor. 

1896  N.  Y. 
1898  Min. 

1898  Mo. 

1899  Mo. 
1901  N.  Y. 
1901  Dan. 

1904  Mo. 

1905  

1906  Mo. 
1906  Aug. 
1908  N.  Y. 

1912  N.  Y. 

1913  Mo. 
1913  Aug. 
1913  Mo. 
1915  O. 


Brooklyn 


Name  and  Location  Pastor        Lang.  Org.  Syn. 

Evangelical.  Schermerhorn  St J.  W,  Loch G.  E.  1841  Min. 

S.  John,  Maujer  St A.  Beyer G.  E.  1844  Mo. 

St.  John,  New  Jersey  Av C.J.  Lucas G.  E.  1847  Min. 

St.  Paul,  Rodney  St H.  C.  Wasmund .  .  .  G.  E.  1853  Min. 

Zion.  Henry  St E.G.  Kraeling G.  E.  1855  Min. 

St.  Matthew,  Sixth  Av.  at  3rd ...  G.  B.  Young E.  1859  N.  Y. 

St.  Matthew,  197  N.  5th G.  Sommer G.  E.  1864  N.  Y. 

St.  Peter,  Bedford  Av /J.  J.  Heischmann. .  \G.  E.  1864  Min. 

land  J.  G.  Blaesi.../ 

Our  Saviour,  632  Henry  St /  C.  S.  Everson  "1  ....  N.  1866  Nor. 

land  S.  Turmo  J 

St.  John.  Milton  St F.  W.  Oswald G.  E.  1867  Min. 

St.  John,  283  Prospect  Av F.  B.  Clausen G.  E.  1808  Min. 


136 


CHURCHES  OF  BROt^X— BROOKLYN 


Bronx 


Comm.  Souls 

1 758  1,800 

2 (200)  (500) 

3 550  2.100 

4 625  1,100 

5 280  670 

6 200  400 

7 50  100 

8 284  612 

9 346  560 

10 375  811 

11 197  400 

12 205  400 

13 125  250 

14 320  550 

15 160  250 

16 260  500 

17..; 155  230 

18 200  350 

19 120  500 

20 104  300 

21 170  251 

22 70  225 

23 178  382 

Totals 5.932  13,241 


P.S. 
50 


70 


S.S. 

523 

730 

503 

412 

200 

165 

50 
240 
140 
312 
143 
301 

35 
280 

60 
230 
150 
250 
175 
125 

83 
108 
145 


174 


5.360 


R.H, 
69 
67 

103 
64 

(20) 
35 
(5) 

(24) 
32 
68 

(15) 
27 
10 
22 
30 
45 

(15) 
25 
15 
5 
6 
10 
20 


732 


Prop. 

70 
37 
45 
75 
42 
10 

6 
14 

5 
23 
17 
26 
15 
25 

10 

17 

15 

5 

15 

2 

3 

10 


484 


Brooklyn 


Comm.  Souls 

1 1.000  2,500 

2 900  2.500 

3 700  1,005 

4 1,000  1.500 

6 1,200  2,000 

6 250  1,200 

7 600  700 

8 2,200  (4,000) 

9 305  650 

10 1.200  2.500 

11 1,000  3,000 


P.S. 


119 


75 


45 


S.S. 

500 
400 
500 
665 
250 
300 
158 
1,391 

351 

475 
800 


R.H. 
80 
64 
56 
25 
75 
25 
50 
110 

18 

51 
(80) 


Prop. 

200 
80 
80 

150 

100 
66 
25 

100 

35 

75 
60 


X37 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NfiW  YORK 


Name  and  Location  Pastor        Lang.  Org.Syn. 

12.  St.  Mark,  Bushwick  Av S.  Frey  &  P.  Woy.  G.  E.  1868  Mo. 

13.  St.  Luke,  Washington  n.  De  Kalb  W.  A.  Snyder G.  E.  1869  Min. 

14.  St.  Paul,  Henry  n.  Third  PI J.  Huppenbauer....G.  1872  Min. 

15.  Bethlehem,  3rd  Av.  &  Pacific F.  Jacobson S.  1874  Aug. 

16.  Immanuel,  179  S.  9th J.  Holthusen G.  E.  1875  Mo. 

17.  Wartburg,  Georgia  n.  Fulton O.  Hanser G.  E.  1875  Mo. 

18.  Our  Saviour.  193  Ninth R.Andersen D.  1878  D. 

19.  Seamen's,*  111  Pioneer J.  Ekeland Nor.  1879  N.N. 

20.  St.  Matthew,  Canarsie T.  A.  Petersen G.  E.  1880  Mo. 

21.  Emmanuel.  417  Seventh E.  Roth G.  E.  1884  Min. 

22.  Trinity,  249  Degraw G.F.Schmidt G.  E.  1886  Mo. 

23.  St.  Paul,  Knickerbocker  Av J.  P.  Riedel G.  E.  1887  Mo. 

24.  Finnish,  529  Clinton K.  Makinen F.  1887  Fin. 

25.  Zion,  Bedford  Av P.  F.  Jubelt G.  1887  Min. 

26.  Bethlehem,  Marion W.  Kandelhart G.  E.  1888  Min. 

27.  St.  James.  4th  Av.  n.  54th H.  C.  A.  Meyer. . .  .G.  E.  1889  Min. 

23.  St.  Paul,  392  McDonough J.  Eastlund S.  1889  Aug. 

29.  St.  John,  84th  at  10th  Av L.  Happ G.  1890  Min. 

30.  Trinity,  4th  Av.  at  46th S.  O.  Sigmond N.  1890  Nor. 

31.  Finnish.  752  44th S.  Ilmonen F.  E.  1890  Suo. 

32.  Immanuel,  521  Leonard J.E.Nelson S.  E.  1894  Aug. 

33.  Scandinavian,  150  Russell E.  Risty E.  N.  1894  Nor. 

34.  Redeemer.  Lenox  Road S.  G.  Weiskotten...E.  1894  N.  E. 

35.  Christ,  1084  Lafayette  Av C.  B.  Schuchard  . . .  E.  1895  N.  E. 

36.  Salem,  128  Prospect  Av J.J.  Kildsig D.  1896  U.  D. 

37.  St.  Peter,  94  Hale  Av A.  Brunn E.G.  1897  Mo. 

38.  Zion,  1068  59th J.  D.  Daniclson. . .  .S.  1897  Aug. 

39.  Calvary,  788  Herkimer O.  L.  Yerger E.  1898  N.  Y. 

40.  Reformation,  Barbey  n.  Arl'tn. .  . .  J.  C.  Fisher E.  1898  N.  E. 

41.  St.  Stephen,  Newkirk  Av L.  D.  Gable E.  1898  N.  E. 

42.  Messiah.  129  Russell J.H.Worth E.  1899  N.  L. 

43.  Our  Saviour,  21  Covert A.  R.  G.  Hanser. .  ,E.  1901  Mo. 

44.  Incarnation,  4th  Av.  at  54th H.  S.  Miller E.  1901  N.  E. 

45.  Grace,  Bushwick  Av C.  F.  Interaann. . . .  E.  1902  N.  E. 

46.  Bethesda,  22  Woodhull J.  C.  Herre N.  E.     1902  Nor. 

47.  Bethlehem,  51st  &  6th  Av F.  W.  Schuermann .  G.  E.     1903  Mo. 

48.  Salem,  414  46th J.A.Anderson S.  E.      1904  Aug. 

49.  St.  Andrew,  St.  Nicholas  Av E.  1906  N.  E. 

50.  Good  Shepherd,  4th  Av.  at  75th  ..CD.  Trexler E.  1906  N.  E. 

61.     St.  Paul,  Coney  Island J.  F.  W.  Kitzraeyer .  E.  G.     1907  N.  Y. 

52.  St.  John,  145  Skillman  Av G.  Matzat Lith.      1907  Mo. 

53.  Ascension.  13th  Av.  &  51st C.P.Jensen E.  1907  N.  E. 

^.    Epiphany,  831  Sterling  PI W.  H.  Stutts E.  1908  N.  Y. 


13a 


CHURCHES  OF  BROOKLYN 


Conim,  Souls 

12 1.200  2,500 

13 700  1.000 

14 400  800 

15 883  1,496 

16 860  1.900 

17 80  80 

IS 200  (300) 

19 

20 180  315 

21 750  1,000 

22 385  729 

23 650  2,000 

24 240  240 

25 300  500 

26 700  (1,200) 

27. 650  2,000 

28 346  442 

29 (400)  (500) 

30 400  5,000 

31 150  300 

32 175  350 

33 112  175 

34 400  600 

35 550  1,000 

38 97  400 

37 603  973 

33 150  400 

39  97  235 

40 500  1,000 

41 503  3,800  ■ 

42 438  900 

43 450  900 

44 275  400 

45 425  525 

46 120  300 

47 180  330 

48 320  2,500 

49 374  1,000 

50 525  1,200 

51 242  850 

52 73  103 

53 61  100 

54 150  388 


P.S. 
125 


35 


26 


s.s. 

550 
330 
175 
600 
210 


40 


SO 
500 
257 
450 


17 


200 
400 
500 
182 
375 
1,000 
135 
105 

70 
225 
425 

85 
378 
160 
200 
450 
975 
563 
360 
290 
325 

93 
160 
600 
867 
700 
248 

17 
105 
201 


R.H. 

67 
30 
(20) 
(60) 
80 


(5) 


40 
24 
60 


60 

75 

(18) 

(38) 

100 

135 

105 

15 

(23) 

45 

20 

39 

16 

(20) 

(40) 

41 

40 

74 

26 

20 

(10) 

22 

36 

60 

36 

(25) 

(31 

7 

24 


Prop. 

140 

125 

30 

121 

80 

5 
18 
30 
16 
61 
28 
(40) 
25 
30 
28 
50 
36 
40 
50 
16 
16 

6 
70 
25 
10 
19 
10 
15 
30 
35 
85 
30 
20 
45 
40 

7 
15 
10 
30 
18 

5 

7 
21 


X39 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Name  and  Location  Pastor        Lang.  Org.Syn. 

55.  Zion,  4th  Av.  at  63rd L.  Larsen N.  E.  1908  Nor. 

56.  St.  Mark.  26  E.  5th W.  Hudaff E.G.  1908  Min. 

57.  Advent.  Av.  P.  &  E.  12th A.  F.  Walz E.G.  1909  N.  Y. 

58.  Good  Shepherd.  315  Fenimore. . .  G.  Hagemann E.  W09  Mo. 

59.  Saron.  East  New  York J.  Eastlund S.  1909  Aug. 

GO.  Bethany.  12th  Av.  at  60th CO.  Pedersen N.  E.  1912  Nor. 

61.  Redeemer.  991  Eastern  Pky E.J.Flanders E.  1912  N.  Y. 

62.  Mediator.  Bay  Pky.  at  68th H.  Wacker E.  1912  N.  E. 

63.  St.  John.  44th  n.  8th  Av J.  Gullans S.  1913  Aug. 

61.  St.  Philip,  287  Magenta A.  Wuerstliti E.  1913  N.  Y. 

65.  Mission  to  Deaf.*  177  S.  9th A.  Boll E.G.  1913  Mo. 

66.  Trinity,*  Coney  Island G.  Koenig 1913  Mo. 

67.  Immanuel.*  1524  Bergen W.  O.  Hill 1913  Mo. 

68.  Holy  Trinity,  Jefferson  Av C.  H.  Dort E.  1914  N.  Y. 

69.  Trinity.*  Erie  Basin •. . . .   G.  Koenig 1915  Mo. 

70.  Finnish,  844  42nd B.  Aho F Ap. 


Queens 

Name  and  Location  Pastor        Lang.  Org.Syn. 


1. 

fit.  John,  College  Point 

A.  Halfmann 

..G. 

1857  Mo. 

2. 

Trinity,  Middle  Village 

D.  W.  Peterson.. 

.   G. 

E. 

1863  Min. 

3. 

St.  James,  Winfield 

....F.E.Tilly 

..G. 

1867  Mo. 

4. 

Christ,  Woodhaven 

.  ...H.  E.  Meyer 

..G. 

1880  Min. 

5. 

Emanuel.  Corona 

.  ...E.  G.  Holls 

.   G. 

1887  Mo. 

6. 

Trinity,  Long  Island  City 

....C.  Merkel 

.  .E. 

G. 

1890  Mo. 

7. 

Salem,  Long  Island  City 

....H.L.Wilson.... 

..S. 

1893  Aug. 

8. 

St.  John.  Flushing 

G.  Kaestner 

..G. 

1893  Mo. 

9. 

Immanuel.  Whitestone 

.  ...H.  C.Wolk 

.   E. 

G. 

1895  Mo. 

10. 

Christ,  Woodside 

....H,  Bunke 

.  .G. 

1896  Mo. 

11. 

Trinity,  Maspeth 

.  ...W.  H.  Pretzsch.. 

.  .G. 

1899  Min. 

12. 

Emmaus.  Ridgewood 

....T.  S.  Frey 

..G. 

E. 

1900  Mo. 

13. 

St.  Paul,  Richmond  Hill 

....P.  B.Frey 

.  .G. 

1902  Mo. 

14. 

St.  John,  Richmond  Hill 

A.  L.  Benner 

..E. 

1903  N.  E. 

15. 

St.  Luke,  Woodhaven 

E.  R.  Jaxheimer. 

..E. 

1908  N.  E. 

16. 

HolyTrinity,  Hollis 

.  ...A.  L.  Dillenbeck. 

.  .E. 

1908  N.  Y. 

17. 

St.  Mark,  Jamaica 

....W.  C.  Nolte 

..G. 

E. 

1909  N.  Y. 

18. 

Redeemer,  Glendale 

....T.  O.  Kuehp 

..G. 

E. 

1909  Mo. 

19. 

Covenant,  2402  Catalpa 

....G.  U.  Preuss"..... 

..E. 

1909  N.  E. 

20. 

St.  John,  E.  Williamsburg. . . . 

0.  Graesser,  Jr... 

..G. 

E. 

1910  Mo. 

140 


CHURCHES  OF  BROOKLYN — QUEENS 


Co  mm. 

Souls 

55 

400 

3,000 

56 

150 

250 

57 

143 

400 

58 

100 

300 

59 

30 

55 

60 

150 

275 

61 

80 

200 

62 

65 

160 

63 

200 

293 

64 

40 

175 

65 

66 





67 

68 

90 

297 

69 

70 



Totals... 

.  27.997 

67,696 

P,S, 


s.s. 

R.H. 

Prop 

6.50 

75 

15 

125 

(13) 

6 

230 

12 

10 

133 

12 

4 

32 

(5) 

6 

125 

125 

8 

150 

12 

20 

130 

7 

7 

110 

8 

3 

130 

8 

4 

163 


15 


670 


21,254 


2.517 


2,532 


Queens 


Co  mm. 

Sotils 

P.S. 

S.S. 

R.H. 

Prop 

1 

360 

500 

400 

40 

2 

600 

1.000 

11 

700 

62 

68 

3 

310 

729 

10 

385 

25 

4 

350 

1.000 

400 

20 

30 

5 

250 

500 

200 

3 

6 

500 

1,000 

550 

105 

40 
6 

7 

89 

134 

11 

50 

8 

171 

250 

70 

10 

10 

9 

180 

375 

108 

20 

15 

10 

144 

450 

90 

18 

11 

500 

1.000 

500 

35 

10 

12 

582 

1.104 

305 

30 

7 

13 

325 

650 

30 

235 

12 

14 

390 

1.000 

465 

40 

26 

15 

350 

1.200 

550 

103 

18 

16 

85 

150 

90 

6 

6 

s 

17 

156 

272 

197 

19 

18 

260 

600 

300 

37 

9 

19 

400 

1,179 

679 

48 
3 

20 

50 

130 

60 

1 

HX 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Name  and  Location  Pastor        Lang.  Org.  Syn. 

21.  Good  Shepherd,  S.  Ozone  Park...  C.  H.  Thomsen E.  1911  N.  Y. 

22.  Christ.  Rosedale G.  L.  Kieffer E.  1913  N.  Y. 

23.  St.  Paul.  Richmond  Hill C.  G.  Toebke E.  1914  N.  E. 

24.  Chapel.*  Bayside F.  J.  Muehlhaeuser.E.  1915  Mo. 

25.  Chapel.*  Port  Washington F.  J.  Muehlhaeuser.E.  1915  Mo. 

26.  St.  Andrew.*  Glen  Morris E.  1915  N.  Y. 

27.  Mission,*  Elmhurst E.  G.  HoUs G Mo. 

28.  Grace.*  Queens C  Romoser E.  ....  Mo. 

29.  Gusta^^ls  Adolphus,  Rich.  Hill S.  Aug. 


Richmond 

Name  and  Location               Pastor        Lang.  Org.  Syn. 

1.  St.  John.  Port  Richmond John  C.  Borth G.  E.  1852  Mo. 

2.  Evangelical.  Stapleton Frederic  Sutter G.  E.  1856  Min. 

3.  Zion,  Port  Richmond R.  O.  Sigmond N.  1893  Nor. 

4.  Our  Saviour,  Port  Richmond S.  R.  Christensen.  ..N.  1893  Nor. 

5.  St.  Paul,  West  New  Brighton Wm.  Euchler G.  E.  1899  Min. 

G.     Wasa,  Port  Richmond L.  F.  Nordstrom . . .  S.  1905  Aug 

7.  German,  Tompkinsville A.  Krause G.  1907  Min. 

8.  Scandinavian,  New  Brighton J.  C.  Hougum N.  1908  Nor. 

9.  Immanuel,  New  Springville H.  A   Meyer G.  E.  1911  Min. 

10.     St.  Matthew,  Dongan  Hills HugoH.  Burgdorf .  .E.  G.  1915  Mo. 


142 


CHURCHES    OF    QUEENS — RICHMOND 


Comm. 

Souls      p.  S. 

5".  5. 

R.H. 

Prop. 

21 

85 

568 

224 

9 

10 

22 

47 

200 

41 

21 

10 

23 

100 

250 

185 

15 

1 

21 

25 

80 

55 

4 

25 

35 





26 

15 

30 

40 

15 

27 

29 

10 

29 

12 

Totals... 

.        6,634 

14,415 

C2 

6,897 

635 

370 

Richmond 

Comm. 

Souls      P.  S. 

s.s. 

R.H. 

Prop. 

1 

400 

700 

175 

35 

32 

2 

750 

2,000 

560 

(56) 

95 

3 

160 

280 

200 

(20) 

12 

4 

175 

283 

100 

30 

5 

5 

116 

(200) 

21 

70 

(7) 

17 

6 

75 

(120) 

41 

(5) 

7 

7 

90 

(150) 

16 

50 

(5) 



8 

70 

(150) 

45 

(9) 

7 

9 

58 
54 

(100) 
(137) 

36 
73 

75 
6 

6 

10 

1 

Totals... 

1,948 

4.120 

37 

1.350 

247 

182 

Recapitulation 

Borough*                 Comm.         Soula  P.  S. 

Manhattan 15,978         41.485  669 

Bronx 5,932         13,241  174 

Brooklyn 27.997         67.696  670 

Queens 6,334         14,415  62 

Richmond 1,948           4.120  37 

Total 68,494       140.597  1,612 

143 


S.S. 

R.H. 

Prop. 

7,245 

1.580 

3.160 

5,360 

732 

484 

21.254 

2,517 

2,532 

6,897 

635 

370 

1.350 

247 

182 

42,106       6.711       6.728 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 

■s^'  


Deaconesses 

Manhattan 

Christ  Church:  Sister  Regena  Bowe,  Sister  Maude  Hafner. 

Atonement:  Sister  Jennie  Christ. 

St.  Paul,  Harlem:  Sister  Rose  Dittrich. 

St.  John,  Christopher  Street:  Sister  Louise  Moeller. 

Brooklyn 

St.  Matthew:  Sister  Clara  Smyre. 
Zion,  Norwegian :  Sister  Marie  Olsen. 
Trinity,  Norwegian:  Sister  Ingeborg  Neff. 


144 


APPENDIX 


Former  Pastors 

Manhattan 

1.  St.  Matthew:  (Since  1807)  F.  W.  Geissenhainer,  Sr.,  F. 

C.  Schaeffer,  C.  F.  E.  Stohlmann,  George  Vorberg, 
Justus  Ruperti,  J.  H.  Sieker,  Martin  Walker,  Otto 
Ungemach. 

2.  St.  James :  F.  C.  Schaeffer,  W.  D.  Strobel,  Charles  Mar- 

tin, J.  L.  Schock,  A.  C.  Wedekind,  S.  A.  Ort. 

3.  St.  Paul:  F.  W.  Geissenhainer,  Jr.,  C.  Hennicke. 

4.  Trinity:     Theodor  Brohm,  F.  W.  Foehlinger,  F.  Koenig. 

5.  St.  Mark:    A.  H.  M.  Held,  H.  Raegener. 

6.  St.  Luke :  Wm.  Drees,  Wm.  Biittner,  Wm.  Busse. 

7.  St.  John :  A.  H.  M.  Held,  A.  C.  Wedekind,  J.  J.  Young. 

8.  St.  Peter:     C.  Hennicke,  E.  F.  Moldenke. 

9.  Immanuel:  J.  C.  Renz,  L.  Halfmann. 

10.  St.  John :    F.  T.  Koerner,  L.  A.  C.  Detzer,  H.  W.  Diede- 

rich,  W.  F.  Seeger. 

11.  St.  Paul :    Julius  Ehrhart,  G.  H.  Tappert,  J.  A.  W.  Haas. 

12.  Gustavus  Adolphus :  Axel  Waetter,  Johann  Princell,  Emil 

Lindberg. 

13.  Holy  Trinity:     G.  F.  Krotel,  C.  Armand  Miller. 

14.  Epiphany:     D.  H.  Geissinger,  F.  F.  Buermeyer,  J.   W. 

Knapp,  F.  C.  Clausen, 

15.  Grace:    J.  Miller,  J.  Gruepp,  J.  A.  W.  Haas. 

16.  Trinity:     C.  R.  Tappert. 

17.  Zion :    H.  Hebler. 

18.  Washington  Heights:  E.  A.  Tappert. 

19.  Our  ^Saviour :  C.  Hovde,  P.  A.  Dietrichson,  J.  G.  Nilson, 

K.  Kvarame. 

20.  Redeemer:    W.  F.  Schoenfeld,  W.  Dallmann. 

21.  Advent:    G.  F.  Krotel  W.  M.  Horn. 

22.  Our  Saviour:  W.  H.  Feldmann. 

23.  Finnish:     M.  Kiyi,  J.  Haakana. 

24.  Esthonian:     H.  Rebane. 

25.  Polish:     C.  Mikulski,  F.  Sattelmeier. 

Bronx 

4.     St.  Peter:    H.  Richter,  H.  A.  Steiningcr. 
6.     St.  Peter:     H.  R^umann,  O.  Rappolt. 

145 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


8.  Bethany:     J.  F.  W.  Kitzmeyer,  W.  Freas. 

9.  St.  Luke:    W.  Eickmann. 

10.  St.  Paul:    J.  Heck,  G.  Bohm,  O.  H.  Restin,  W.  Proehl. 

12.  Emmanuel:     A.  A.  King,  F.  Christ. 

13.  Trinity:     A.  V.  Andersen. 

14.  Grace:    J.  Schiller. 

18.  St.  Thomas:     F.  J.  Baum. 

19.  Holy  Comforter:     H.  F.  Muller. 
22.  Trinity:    O.  H.  Trinklein. 

Brooklyn 

1.  Evangelical:  F.  T.  Winkelmann,  Ludwig  Mueller,  Her- 
mann Garlichs,  Johannes  Bank,  Carl  F.  Haussmann, 
Theo.  H.  Dresel. 

4:  St.  Paul:  E.  H.  Buehre,  E.  J.  Schlueter,  August  Schmidt, 
A.  Schubert,  H.  Hennicke,  F.  T.  Koerner,  H.  D.  Wrage, 
George  F.  Behringer,  H.  B.  Strodach,  Hugo  W.  Hoff- 
mann. 

5.  Zion :     F.  W.  T,  Steimle,  Chr.  Hennicke. 

6.  St.  Matthew:     William  Hull,  Edward  J.  Koons,  Isaac 

K.  Funk,  A.  S.  Hartman,  J.  Ilgen  Burrell,  M.  W. 
Hamma,  J.  C.  Zimmerman,  J.  A.  Singmaster,  T.  T.  Ev- 
erett, W.  E.  Main,  A.  H.  Studebaker. 

7.  St.  Matthaeus :    A.  Schubert,  H.  Heifer,  G.  H.  Vosseler. 
9.     St.    Peter:    A.   Schubert,   Philip   Zapf,   Robert   C.   Beer, 

Carl  Goehling. 
10.     St.  John:     0.  E.  Kaselitz,  Theo.  Heischmann. 

12.  St.  Mark:     J.  F.  Flath,  G.  A.  Schmidt,  A.  E.  Frey,  J. 

Frey. 

13.  St.  Luke:  J.  H.  Baden,  Wm.  Ludwig,  C  B.  Schuchard. 

14.  St.  Paul:     Robert  Neumann. 

16.  Immanuel:     F.  T.  Koerner. 

17.  Wartburg  Chapel:     F.  W.  Richmann,  C  A.  Graeber,  C. 

H.  Loeber,  B.  Herbst. 

19.  Norwegian  Seamen's  Mission:     O.  Asperheim,  A.  Mor- 

tensen,  C.  B.  Hansteen,  Kristen  K.  Saarheim,  Jakob 
K.  Bo,  Tycho  Castberg. 

20.  St.    Matthew:      Kuefer,    Comby,    Steinhauer,    Wagner, 

Graepp,  Abele,  Frey,  Wuerstlin,  Geist,  Fritz. 

22.  Trinity:     George  Koenig,  John  Holthusen,  Paul  Linde- 

mann. 

23.  St.  Paul:    H.  C.  Luehr,  Theo.  Gross. 

146 


APPENDIX 


25.  Bethlehem:     Theodor  Heischmann. 

26.  Zion:     E.  Kraeling,  J.  Kirsch. 

27.  St.  James :     C  F.  Dies. 

30.  Trinity:     M.  H.  Hegge,  J.  Tanner,  P.  R.  Syrdal,  O.  E. 

Eide. 

31.  Finnish:     N.  Korhonen. 

32.  Immanuel:    G.  Nelsenius,  J.  O.  Cornell. 

33.  Scandinavian:     M.  C.  Tufts,  A.  Dietrichson,  J.  J.  Nil- 

son.   K.   Kvamme,  G.  J.  Breivik,    T.    K.    Thorvilden, 
Doeving,  Risty. 

35.  Christ:     H.  S.  Knabenschuh. 

36.  Salem:  L.  H.  Kjaer,  T.  Beck,  N.  H.  Nyrop. 

37.  St.  Peter :     Emil  Isler,  R.  Herbst,  V.  Geist. 

38.  Zion:     J.  G.  Danielson,  J.  C.  Westlund,  G.  Anderson. 

39.  Calvary:  H.  E.  Clare,  W.  H.  Hetrick,  E.  T.  Hoshour, 

E.  J.  Flanders,  G.  Blessin. 

40.  Reformation:     H.  P.  Miller. 

42.  Messiah :     S.  G.  Trexler,  E.  A.  Trabert. 

43.  Our  Saviour:     J.  H.  C.  Fritz. 

44.  Incarnation:     W.  H.  Steinbicker,  G.  J.  Miller. 

47.  Bethlehem:     P.  Lindemann,  A.  Halfmann,  W.  Arndt. 

48.  Salem:    J.  G.  Danielson,  G.  Nelsenius. 

53.    Ascension :    J.  H.  Strenge,  E.  W.  Schaefer,  W.  H.  Stein- 
bicker, E.  F.  Stuckert,  C  P.  Jensen. 
55.    Zion:     J.  Ellertsen. 

57.  Advent :  E.  E.  Hoshour.  H.  M.  Schroeder. 

58.  Good  Shepherd:    R.  Baehre. 
52.     Mediator:     M.  E.  Walz. 

34.  St.  Philip:     Carl  Zinssmeister. 


Queens 

2.    Middle    Village:    Schnurrer,  F.  W.  Ernst,  T.  Koerner, 
G.  A.  W.  Quern. 

4.  Woodhaven:  H.  S.  Kuever,  W.  P.  Krope,  Th.  Heisch- 

mann, P.  Kabis,  G.  A.  Baetz. 

5.  Corona :    J.  H.  Berkemeier,  E.  Brennecke,  A.  E.  Schmitt- 

henner,   E.  Zwinger,  F.  Ruge,  H.  Eyme,  C.   Boehner, 
F.  G.  Wyneken. 

6.  Long  Island  City:     W.  Schoenfeld,  Ad.  Sicker. 

8.    Flushing:     A.   E.   Schmitthenner,   R.  J.   W.   Mekler,  J. 
Rathke. 

147 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


9.  Whitestone :  F.  Kroencke,  G.  Thomas,  H.  F.  Bunke,  W. 
Koenig,  Theo.  Kuhn. 

10.  Woodside:     A.  H.  Winter.  M.  T.  Rolls. 

11.  Maspeth:    August  Wuerstlin. 

12.  Ridgewood:     Wm.  Pretzsch,  P.  B.  Frey,  Arthur  Brunn. 

16.  Woodhaven:     E.  J.  Keuhling. 

18.  Jamaica:     Wm.  Popcke,  Max  Hering. 

19.  Glendale:     John  Baur. 

17.  Hollis:  H.  M.  Schroeder,  Carl  Yettru.  Stephen  Traver. 

21.  South  Ozone  Park:     P.  J.  Alberthus,  J.  B.  Lau. 

20.  Catalpa  Avenue :    G.  C.  Loos,  E.  Trafford,  J.  H.  Stelljes. 

22.  Maspeth:     A.  H.  Meill. 

24.  Rosedale:     W.  A.  Sadtler. 

25.  Dunton :    Wm.  Steinbicker. 


Richmond 

1.  Port  Richmond:     F.  Boehling,  H.  Roell,  C  Hennicke, 

H.  Goehling,  M.  Tirmenstein.  J.  E.  Gottlieb,  E.  F.  T. 
Frincke,  J.  P.  Schoener,  H.  Schroeder. 

2.  Stapleton:     C.   Hennicke.   C.   Goehling,   R.   C.   Beer,   E. 

Hering,  A.  Kuehne,  A.  Krause. 

3.  Port   Richmond:     H.   E.   Rue,  J.  Tolefsen,   O.   Silseth, 

O.  E.  Eide,  V.  E.  Boe. 


Sons  of  the  Churches 

Who  Have  Entered  the  Lutheran  Ministry 

Manhattan 

1.  St.  Matthew:    Otto  Sieker,  Adolf  Sieker,  Henry  Sieker, 

Christian  Boehning,  F.  W.  Oswald,  John  Timm,  The- 
ophilus  Krug,  Frederick  Sacks,  John  Albohm,  H.  S. 
Knabenschuh,  Wegner,  Wm.  Schmidt,  Ed.  Fischer,  Wm. 
Fischer,  R.  Heintze. 

2.  St.  James:     Edmund  Belfour.  D.D. 

i.  Trinity:  H.  Birkner.  F.  Koenig.  G.  Koenig,  F.  T.  Koer- 
ner,  A.  Kirchhoefer,  H.  Koenig.  H.  Voltz,  E.  Nauss, 
O.  Graesser,  C  Hassold,  A.  Poppe. 

148 


APPENDIX 


5.  St.  Mark:    J.  Schultz,  H.  C  Meyer,  E.  Meyer. 

6.  St.  Luke:    J.  Timm,  W.  Krumwiede. 

7.  St.  John :     E.  E.  Neudewitz,  F.  H.  Knubel,  W.  H.  Feld- 

mann,  J.  H.  Meyer,  P.  M.  Young. 

8.  St.  Peter:  H.  Kuever,  A.  Stuckert,  F.  Hoffman,  C  E. 

Moldenke,  A.  B.  Moldenke. 

9.  Immanuel :    A.  Menkens,  F.  Loose,  J.  Loose,  H.  C  Stein- 

hoff,  H.  Pottberg,  H.  Zoller,  J.  Biehusen,  H.  Beck- 
mann,  E.  Beckmann,  P.  Heckel,  A.  Halfmann,  J.  C. 
Boschen,  P.  Woy,  H.  Hamann. 

10.  St.  John:     A.  G.  Steup,  B.  Weinlader,  G.  C  Kaestner, 

H.  F.  Bunke.  M.  L.  Steup.  F.  J.  Boehling,  H.  Wehren- 
berg,  P.  G.  Steup,  R.  B.  Steup,  H.  Tietjen. 

11.  St.  Paul:     H.  D.  Wacker. 

14.     Christ:     C.  E.  Weltner,  D.D.,  J.  H.  Dudde. 

21.  Redeemer:     R.  C.  Ressmeyer,  W.  Becker. 

22.  Our  Saviour:    H.  Gudmundsen,  O.  Brevik. 


Bronx 

10.    St.  Paul:    H.  W.  Siebern. 

Brooklyn 

3.  St.  John:    O.  Werner. 

4.  St.  Paul:     J.  Koop,  H.  B.  Krusa. 

5.  Zion :     Goedel,  A.  Steimle.  D.D.,  C  Interoann,  v*.  Mik- 

kelson,  E.  Kraeling,  Ph.D.,  H.  Kropp. 

6.  St.  Matthew:     J.  Arnold. 

7.  St.  Matthew:     F.  Bastel. 

8.  St.  Peter:     C.  B.  Rabbow,  F.  H.  Bosch,  F.  A.  Raven- 

dam,  B.  Mehrtens. 
10.    St.  John:     J.  H.  Stelljes. 
13.     St.  Luke:     E.  W.  Hammer. 
15.     Bethlehem:     F.  N.  Swanberg,  N.  Ebb,  A.  Ebb,  O.  Ebb, 

B.  J.  Hattin,  P.  Froeberg,  O.  N.  Olsen,  O.  Eckhardt. 
19.    Seamans:     O.  Amdalsrud,   S.  Folkestad,  J.  Skagen,  N. 

Nielsen. 

22.  Trinity:  H.  Hamann,  P.  Seidler,  G.  C.  Koenig. 

23.  St.  Paul :  G.  Steinert,  W.  C.  Schrader. 
27.    St.  James :  H.  A.  Meyer,  G.  J.  Schorling. 

149 


THE  LUTHERANS  OP  NEW  YORK 


30.    Trinity:  J.    J.  Tadum,  A.  Nilsen,  S.  O.  Sande,  C.  Mun- 
son,  M.  Brekke,  N.  Fedde. 

34.  Redeemer:     C.  Toebke. 

35.  Christ:     C.  H.  Dort. 
40.    Reformation:    P.  Rudh. 


Queens 

2.  Trinity:     A.  E.  Schmitthenner.  F.  Sutter. 

6.  Trinity:    H.  H.  Koppelmann,  Wm.  Knoke,  G.  Hageman. 

11.  Trinity:     L.  Hanse. 

12.  Emmaus:     C.  Werberig. 


Richmond 

2.  Evangelical:     P.  E.  Weber. 

3.  Zion:    S.  Saude,  J.  Frohlen,  O.  Alfsen,  A.  Stansland. 


Institutions  and  Societies 

Colleges 

Concordia,  1881,  Bronxville.  Faculty:  Professors  Heintze, 
Heinrichsmeyer,  Feth,  Stein,  Schwoy  and  Romoser. 

Wagner  Memorial,  1883,  Grymes  Hill,  Stapleton,  Staten  Is- 
land.    Director:  Rev.  A.  H.  Holthusen. 

Upsala,  1893,  Kenilworth,  N.  J.  Director:  Rev.  Peter  Froe- 
berg,  B.D. 


Orphans*  Homes 

Wartburg  Farm  School,  1864,  Mount  Vernon. 
Bethlehem,  1886,  Fort  Wadsworth,  Staten  Island. 
Children's  Home,  1915,  Brooklyn,  45  Third  Place. 

150 


APPENDIX 


Homes  for  the  Aged 

Wartburg,  1875,  Brooklyn,  2598  Fulton  Avenue. 
Maria  Louise  Memorial,  1898,  Mount  Vernon. 
Marien-Heim,  1898,  Brooklyn,  18th  Avenue  at  64th  Street. 
Old  People's  Home  (Norwegian),  112  Pulaski  Street. 
Swedish  Augustana,  1907,  Brooklyn,  1680  Sixtieth  Street. 


Deaconess  Motherhouse 
Norwegian,  1880,  Brooklyn,  Fourth  Ave.  at  46th  Street. 


Hospitals  and  Relief  Work 

Norwegian,  1880,  Brooklyn,  Fourth  Ave.  at  46th  Street. 

Lutheran,  1881,  Brooklyn,  East  New  York  Ave.  at  Junius  St. 

Lutheran  of  Manhattan,  1911,  Convent  Ave.  at  144th  Street. 

Lutheran  Hospital  Association:  Twenty  congregations  of  the 
Missouri  Synod  are  represented  in  this  Association. 

Inner  Mission  Society,  2040  Fifth  Avenue.  Missionary:  Rev. 
Ferdinand  F.  Buermeyer,  D.D. 

Inner  Mission  and  Rescue  Work,  56  Pine  Street,  Manhattan. 
Rev.  V.  A.  M.  Mortensen. 

Association  for  the  Relief  of  Indigent  Germans  on  Black- 
well's  Island. 

German  Home  for  Recreation  of  Women  and  Children,  1895, 
Brooklyn,  Harway  Avenue,  Gravesend  Beach. 


Immigrant  and  Seamen's  Missions 

Norwegian,  1867,  Manhattan,  45  Whitehall  St.  Pastor  Pe- 
tersen. 

Emigrant  House,  1869,  Manhattan,  147  West  Twenty-third 
Street.    Pastor  Haas. 

Danish  Mission,  1878,  Brooklyn,  197  Ninth  Street.  Pastor 
Anderson. 

Norwegian  Seamen,  1879,  Brooklyn,  115  Pioneer  St.  Pastor 
Ekeland. 

Finnish  Mission,  1887,  Brooklyn,  197  Ninth  Street.  Pastor 
Makinen. 

151 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Seamen's  Mission,  1907,  Hoboken,  64  Hudson  Street.    Pastor 

Brucckner. 
Swedish  Immigrant  Home,  1895,  Manhattan,  5  Water  Street. 

Pastor  Helander. 
Immigrant  Society,  Inc.,  1869,  Manhattan,  334  East  62d  Street. 

Pastor  Restin. 


Other  Associations 

Lutheran  Education  Society  of  New  York.    For  the  promo- 
tion of  higher  education  within  the  Atlantic  and  Eastern 
Districts  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod  of  Missouri. 
Pastor  Karl  Kretzmann,  Secretary. 
Manhattan  Sunday  School  Institute,  1908.     15  schools.     En- 
rollment, 495  teachers. 
English  Lutheran  Missionary  Society  of  Brooklyn,  1898.    Re- 
ports establishment  of*  16  churches  in  Brooklyn  and  Long 
Island. 
Luther  League  of  New  York  City.     Enrollment,  1,100  mem- 
bers. 
American   Lutheran   Publicity  Bureau,   234   East  62d   Street. 
Lutheran  Bureau,  Inc.,  A  National  Medium  for  Information 
and  Service. 

The  Bureau  grew  out  of  the  celebration  of  the  Reforma- 
tion Quadricentennial.  Its  lines  of  activity  embrace  a  lec- 
ture bureau,  a  news  service  and  an  information  service. 

In  the  last  it  offers  information  on  the  best  methods  of 
doing  church  work,  culling  the  best  experience  in  the  field 
of  service  and  placing  it  at  the  disposal  of  anyone  desiring  it. 
In  the  lecture  bureau  and  the  news  service  it  is  stimu- 
lating Lutherans  to  study  the  problems  of  the  hour  and  it  is 
creating  opportunities  for  them  to  be  heard. 

The  office  is  located  in  the  Bank  of  the  Metropolis  Build- 
ing, Union  Square,  New  York.  President,  George  D.  Bos- 
chen;  Treasurer,  Theodore  H.  Lamprecht;  Executive  Sec- 
retary, O.  H.  Pannkoke. 

National  Lutheran  Commission  for  Soldiers'  and  Sailors' 
Welfare,  437  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Chairman,  Rev. 
Frederick  H.  Knubel,  D.D. 


153 


APPENDIX 


Periodicals 

Der  Lutherische  Herold,  founded  in  1852,  by  Henry  Ludwig. 

Der  Sonntagsgast,  founded  1872.    Editor:  Pastor  Wenner. 

The    New   York   Lutheran,    founded   1903.     Editor:    Pastor 
Brunn. 

Der    Deutsche   Lutheraner,    founded    1909.     Continuation   of 
Der  Lutherische  Herold.     Editor:  Pastor  Berkemeier. 

The  Luther  League  Review.    Editor,  E.  F.  Eilert. 

The  American  Lutheran.     Editor:  Pastor  Lindemann. 

Inner  Missions.    Inner  Mission  Society. 


Bookstores 

Lutheran  Publication  Society,  150  Nassau  Street. 
Ernst  Kaufmann,  22  North  William  Street. 
Augustana  Book  Concern,  132  Nassau  Street. 


153 


THE  UTTITEHANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Bil)lio;^^ra[)hy  * 


Morris,  Rihliotlifcii  I-tillicran;i. 

Jacobs  anrl  Haas,  Lullicrati  Cyclopcrlia. 

T>i<ifinctivc   Doctrines  and   Usages   of   tlir   I.titlicran   Church. 

Neve,  Die  wichtiKstrn  Untcrschcidungsmerkinalr  drr  hithrris- 
chcn  Synodcn  Anicrikas. 

h'icluird,  Confessional  History  of  the  Lntheran  (hnrrh. 

Sfhmnuk   and    licur.c.   The    Confessional     Principle     aiif!     tlie 
Confessions  of  the  Lnthcran  CInirch. 

Koldc,  Ilistorischc  Einlcilung  in  die  Syniholischc  Bucchcr. 

Kraulh,  The  Conservative  Reformation. 

Slahl,  Die  Intherische  Kirchc  nnd  <iie  Union. 

Book  of  Concord.     In  (irrnian  and  Latin:  Mueller.     In  Eng- 
lish :  Jacobs. 

U'nllher,   Ainrrikanisch-Lntherische    Pastoral  Thcologie. 

Kohnert,  Dogmatik. 

Crrberdiftf/,  The  Way  of  .Salvation. 

Remensnyder,  The  Lutheran  Manual. 

Ecclesiastical  Records  State  of  New  York. 

(Hallcschc)  Nachrichten. 

Colonial  Documents  of  New  York. 

Brodhcad,  History  of  New  Nctherland. 

O'Callaghan,  Documentary  History  of  the  State  r)f  New  York. 


*Man\  of  the  boohs  to  which  reference  is  here  vunle  may  be 
fimud  in  the  I'ublir  Library  of  Neiv  )'<irk.  Others  are 
obtainable  in  college  and  seminary  libraries. 

ir>4 


APPENDIX 


Atctnorial    X'olntuc    «)f    the    Scnii-Ccntcnnial    Antiivcrsary    of 
Hartwick  Scminard,  held  August  21,  1860.    Albany.  1807. 

Lamb,  History  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

Booth,  History  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

Grccnlcaf,  History  of  the  C  hurchcs  of  New  York. 

Grncbtxcr,  (icsciiichtc  dor   Luthcrischni   Kirchc   iti   Anirrlr:^. 

IliU'hcrh',   AuswaiulcruiiK   dor    Pfaol/or   iiu    18.  Jahrhntulort. 

Kaiscrslautcrn,   \W\i. 

Jiiihitorn,  In  dor  iicuoii  Hoiinath. 

A'(i/'/»,  Cicschichto  dor  Doutsohoji  ini  Staate  New  York. 

CiOtxvald,  The  Teutonic  Factor  in  Ainorioan  History.  (Liith- 
eran  Church  Review,  11)02.) 

iiracbncr.  Half  a  Century  of  Sound  I.ntlirranisin  in  America. 

Niuut.  Cicscliichte  dcs  New  York  Ministeriutns. 

Lenkcr.  Lutherans  in  All  Lands, 

Jacobs,  A  History  of  the  ICvanKclical  Lutheran  Church  in 
the  United  States. 

S( hwufkrr,  B.  M.,  The  Lutheran  Clnirch  in  New  York  (hir- 
ing' the  I'irst  Century  of  its  History.  (Lutheran  Church 
Review,  1884-1885.) 

Francis.  Old  New  York. 

D\sosis.*ay,  Earliest  Churches  of  New  York. 

Sachsc:  Justus  I-'alckncr, 

Maun:   11.  M.  Muchlenhcrg. 

h'otsrtirr:  Joiiann  Heiiuich  Sicker. 

Sf^ranuc:  Annals  of  the  American  Lutheran  Pulpit. 

Brndixrfi :  Hilder  aus  dei  let/.ten  religioesen  ICrwecktmpr  '" 
Deutschland.     Leipzig,   1897. 

1.^5 


THE  LUTHERANS  OF  NEW  YORK 


Schaefer:  Wilhelm  Loehe.     (Also  other  lives  of  Loebc). 

Baur:  Geschichts-und  Lebensbilder  aus  der  Erneucrung  des 
religioesen  Lebins  in  den  deutschen  Befreiungskriegcn. 

Stevenson:  Praying  and  Working. 

(Rocholl)  :  Einsame  Wege. 

Wichern,  Die  innere  Mission. 

Ohl,  The  Inner  Mission. 

Kretzmann,  Oldest  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 

(Clarkson),  Church  of  Zion  and  St.  Timothy. 

(Young),  St.  John's  Church  in  Christopher  Street. 

Kraeling,  Unser  Zion   (Brooklyn),  1905. 

(Merkel),  Dreieinigkeits-Gemeinde,  Long  Island  City. 

Kandclhart,  Bethlehems-Gemeinde,  Brooklyn,  1913. 

Beyer,  St.  Johannes-Gemeinde,  Brooklyn,  1894. 

Borth,  St.  Johannes-Gemeinde,  Port  Richmond,  1902. 

Jubilee  of  the  Church  of  St.  James,  1877. 

Gcschichte  der  Kirche  zu  St.  Markus,  1897.   (Manh.) 

Zum  Fuenfzigjaehrigem  Jubilaeum  der  St.  Lukas  Gemeinde, 

1900.  (Manh.) 
Zum  Goldenen  Jubilaeum.   (St.  Peter's  Church,  Manhattan), 

1913. 
Gcschichtliche  Skizze  zum  Goldenen  Jubilaeum  der  Immanu- 

elskirche  zu  Yorkville,  1913. 

Steup,  Gcschichtliche  Skizze  der  St.  Johannes-Gemeinde  zu 
Harlem,  New  York,  1889. 

{Peterson),  Zum  Goldenen  Jubilaeum,  Dreieinigkeits-Gemein- 
de, Middle  Village,  1913. 


Statistischcs  Jahrbuch.   (Missouri  Synod). 
Lutheran  Church  Year  Book. 
Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle  Almanac. 
Federation.     New  York  Federation  of  Churches. 
Charities  Directory.    Charity  Organization  Society. 

156 


Index 

Page 

"Achtundvierziger" 35 

Arensius   ^^ 

Athens   ^^ 

Baptismal  Regeneration  101 

Berkemeier,  G.  C 40 

Berkemeier,  W.  11 39 

Berkenmeyer •  •  9 

Book  of  Concord XI)  4:1 

Brolim,  Pastor 34 

^'Buffalonians"   33 

Catechization   109 

Concordia  College    61 

Confirmation    98 

Cox,  Dr.  S.  H 20 

Church  Bookkeeping  124 

Church  Defined 91 

Deaconesses   ^2 

Dutch  Language  80 

Ehrhardt,  Julius    65 

Embury,  Philip  22 

English  Language    83 

Episcopalians  25 

Ericsson,  Captain  John 44 

Fabritius   3 

Falckner 5 

Francis,  Dr 20 

Geissenhainer,  Sr 26 

Geissenhainer,  Jr 27,    64 

German  Language   81 

Goedel,  Jacob   42 

Grabau,  Pastor 31 

Gutwasser 3 

Hartwick  Seminary •  62 

Hartwig 21 

167 


ii'age 

Hausihl  13 

Heck,  Barbara   22 

Held,  A.  H.  M 64 

Hessians   14 

High  German    84 

Holls,  G.  C 40 

Hospice  62 

Inner  Mission   120 

Inner  Mission  Society 62 

Jewish  Schools  Ill 

Jogues  1 

Justification  by  Faith XIV,  XV 

Knoll  10 

Kocherthal   6 

Koinonia  51 

Krotel   65 

Kunze    16 

Kurtz,  Dr.  B 32 

Laidlaw 56 

London   79 

Loonenburg    9 

Louis  the  Fourteenth   6 

Lutheran  Society  62 

Lutheranism   VIII 

Luther  League    51 

Manhattan   61 

Martin  Luther  Society 50 

Mayer,  P.  and  F 21 

Means  of  Grace   XVI 

Meldenius,  Rupertus IV 

Methodists    23 

Metropolitan  District   76 

Merger 78 

Miller,  C.  Armand  66 

Ministers'  Association 58 

*'Missourians*' 33 

Moldenke 65 

158 


Page 

Moller,  Peter 39 

Muehlenberg,  F ^     12 

Muehlenberg,  II.  M 11 

Muehlenberg,  P 6 

Muhlenberg,  W.  A 7 

Neumann,  B 38 

Norwegians    45 

Oertel,  Maximilian 31 

Old  Swamp  Church  12 

Palatines  6 

Parochial  School 107 

Passavant  39 

Pennsylvania  Duteh    87 

Person  of  Christ    XIV 

Piatt  Deutsch   82 

Prussia,  King  of 32 

Psalmodia  Germaniea   12 

Public  Library   125 

Eussian  Lutherans  114 

Rhinebeck 18 

Rudmann,  A   5 

Scandinavians   47 

Schaeffer,  F.  C 26 

Sehieren,  Chas.  A 57 

Sieker,  J.  H 65 

Steimle  Sjniod 41 

St.  Stephen's  Church   25 

St.  James'  Church  27 

St.  Matthew's  Church    26 

Stohlmann    37,   64 

Strebeck   18 

Sunday  School   106 

Swedes 41 

Trinity  Church  9 

TJpsala  College   61 

Vorleezers 8 

Wagner  College   61 

159 


Page 

Week-Day  Instruction   110 

Wedekind  64 

"Weiser 6 

Weltner 67 

Wesley,  John 23 

Weygand 12 

Williston 25 

Winkeltauf e   100 

Young,  J.  J 66 

Zenger,  Peter   7 

Zion  Church 18 


160 


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N«w  York 


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This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indica^**  , 

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provided  by  *-hr     '-vrary  rnlp'-  or  ^  '  sp'-' 


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